Squash blossom ID

I believe my parents picked this up in AZ sometime in the mid 80’s. I thought it was earlier, but now I don’t think so. It appears to have a J. Tom inscription on it. I have no idea what they paid. Someone wrote on the back with permanent marker “#821” and “$864.00”. I cannot verify what my dad paid for the item.

You can go to http://picasaweb.google.com/kyle.vanderstel/SquashBlossom# and see the images I’ve taken.

Can anyone identify?

Looking at the hallmark and the silver surrounding it has a cast look, almost like the name is was cast instead of stamped into the silver. Chip inlay was a very popular style during the 1980s and was being mass produced. The beads are machine made. I will see if I can find anything out about the J.TOM.

Navajo artist Mary Tom was in the store yesterday and I showed her the pictures and she said her husband Jack Tom never had a hallmark like this, just JT. I will see if I can get any other leads on the J. TOM

Thanks for the followup. So I wonder now, who this J. Tom is? Could it be an attempt to pass it off as a Jack Tom creation? Someone suggested chip inlay could have been done by Tommy Singer or Steven Begay? Do you have contact with either of them?

As far as I know Tommy Singer would have hallmarked this necklace, especially at the time this piece was made. This is just not going to be Steven Begay. Jewelry is a huge business in Gallup, NM and you just have so many people that make jewelry, The problem with this hallmark is it is not stamped into the silver, instead it is part of the cast, which indicates that this piece might have been a copy of an original piece of art.