About 20 years ago my husband and I were on vacation in San Antonio, and just happened to be there during the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo at the Alamo Dome. The city held a big market for the rodeo at their smaller stadium, and we went shopping. I was at a booth that had some cool cowboy clothes, leather goods, buckles, etc, but no Native American jewelry except this necklace.
I asked the owner about it, and he said he had a Navajo friend who wanted to buy some of his clothes, but didn’t have enough cash at the time, so they made a trade - clothes for the necklace. He couldn’t tell me anything about the stones ,because he really didn’t know much about turquoise. I loved the stones, but they puzzle me.
The stones are pretty deep blue, and there is seems to be a lot of variety in them. The round beads look to be carved; they aren’t completely round and have some flattened surfaces, and aren’t exactly the same. I see some of that black chert that we have discussed on here previously in a couple of the large stones. There appears to be a bit of pyrite in a few. My questions are, any guesses on origin, and do they look like they are even from the same mine?
Very attractive necklace Ziacat. Here is my naive two ¢ worth regarding some of my turquoise finds. This is not an opinion on yours as this gets very confusing for me sometimes.
Attached are photos of turquoise that I have picked up over the years. All have been described to me as being Chinese or Asian in origin. The one I singled out actually has a silver tag marked: 925 BARSE CHINA.
Thanks, those are lovely also. I don’t believe my necklace has Chinese stones, but I of course could be wrong. If I had to guess it’s mostly Kingman, but a couple of them seem different; they remind me of Carlin Turquoise which was discussed in another thread. When I look closer almost every stone has some pyrite. Not much in the larger stones. A lot of the round stones have a bunch of goldish pyrite. The Navajo gentleman and then the seller must have had it quite awhile, because the seller suggested I have it restrung, which I did.
Thank you! It’s a bit heavy, but not too bad because it’s not super long. I need to wear it more. When I got it the seller said I should restring it, so I didn’t wear it for quite awhile (till I got that done), because I was worried it would break. I tend to forget it’s okay now.
There’s something about when you see it in person that’s really attractive. The maker seemed to try to match the larger stones shapewise on the opposite sides of the necklace.
I definitely see that. I thought it looked pretty balanced. I like the dark bead with the turquoise streak the most. The bits of coral are nice little pops of color. I have a bunch of necklaces that I never wear. I seem to gravitate to a few select pieces most of the time
What kind of material was it strung on previously? Was there a different type of clasp, like the traditional hook? I wonder if it’s quite old and was restrung before you had it?
You know, I don’t even know; I just remember it looking frayed. And I do think the clasp was different, but . I THINK the seller told me that his Navajo friend had all the stones loose, and he strung them into the necklace to trade for the clothes. But my husband says he doesn’t remember that part at all. He just remembered that the seller traded them for clothes with his friend, and then it needed to be restrung. Unfortunately I didn’t write stuff down that time.
I know I’ll never really find anything else out about the necklace, but mostly I’m curious if anyone thinks these stones are all from the same mine, or if a couple of them could be from a different mine. Those stones with the black chert are interesting to me.
Sorry I can help you in the turquoise type. Is it heavy?
. I THINK the seller told me that his Navajo friend had all the stones loose, and he strung them into the necklace to trade for the clothes. But my husband says he doesn’t remember that part at all. He just remembered that the seller traded them for clothes with his friend, and then it needed to be restrung. Unfortunately I didn’t write stuff down that time.
