What a beautiful bolo @mmrogers. Your exceptional craftsmanship is made apparent! 
I share @riobravo’s sentiment, reticulated surfaces have always intrigued me as well, and I find it a satisfying touch.
Not that I feel it’s particularly well made, but the belt buckle below, (from early on in my collecting) was converted from a ketoh. Evidenced by the four sanded surfaces in each corner on the back where the leather mounting tangs once resided.
This is a really nice piece, @Ravenscry. Thank you for sharing!
That’s amazing! I knew their history with horses, but not all the other. So cool. Thanks for sharing this!!
Thank you @mmrogers. I’ve always had a feeling that perhaps it was made early in a smith’s career, due to it’s somewhat unrefined appearance. But reading your thoughts is gratifying. The lenses through which your vision passes provide the rest of us with views we’d never see. Thank you again, Mike.
that looks almost identical to the one i borrowed from my SIL for my wedding, except hers had oval conchos!!! no idea who made hers, or even if she still owns it. 
Those conches have a little Celtic feel. @mmrogers …what a beautiful bolo. Interesting stone…is that bumblebee Jasper?
BTW, you might be the only person I know who has been to Mongolia 
My brother traveled a lot, but not there!
Hi @nanc9354. It’s actually Cerrillos Turquoise, from a mine located in Cerrillos NM, just North of Madrid, south of Santa Fe on the Turquoise Trail. I believe we made this bolo for Palms Trading Company who supplied us with the stone. They had a bunch of really beautiful Cerrillos material cut by Eddy Mauzy’s shop.
I love a good Cerrillos. A lot of old Fred Harvey items used that stone. It is one of my favorites along with Royston and Golden Hills. if you have time, could you show us the stone again without the glare? Really pretty piece.
Sorry @nanc9354. Wish I could. That photo was taken in 88’ or 89’, and that bolo is long gone in a private collection somewhere.
@Ravenscry Thanks, and yes it was quite exceptional and memorable. I’ll add my “concho” pendant to the non-NA thread. I have another Mongolian pendant I may try to photo as well.
@Ziacat yes not much Western tourism out there. It’s the world’s largest grasslands; the vastness is unimaginable.
What an amazing experience @chicfarmer! Most of us never have a chance to spend time with indigenous cultures, I envy you. We have a friend who went to Mongolia on a fishing trip…my husband is jealous! I wish I could remember exactly where they were… I’d recognize it if I heard the name. He has some wonderful stories of he people and staying in Yurts.
I find these saddles not only beautiful, but amazing works of art. It looks like they sit high above the horses withers. The silver rounds (I want to call them conchos!) on the saddles are amazing…are they hand stamped? And, it looks like the fenders have a beautiful stitched design.
Great stuff @chicfarmer, thanks for sharing your experience!
Thank you, @Bmpdvm. I saw a lot of horse material including a fair number of historic saddles. Truly works of art, with a lot of sophisticated craft elements from woodworking to textiles to metalwork. As you may know, the Mongols invented the stirrup. The relatively short saddles (front to back) relate, of course, to the indigenous horses’ size.
Anyhoo, the silver decoration isn’t the result of handstamping a la Navajo tools. These are engraved and chased. Maybe the technical folk can add to this. 
That’s OK…wish it were in my collection!
@Ravenscry Really enjoyed this thread, Aaron. Your ketohs are terrific, as are everyone else’s! It’s my favorite form of Navajo silverwork after belt buckles and concho belt, however, I’m afraid to go down that rabbit hole in fear I’ll never find my way out. Beautiful stuff.
While attempting to navigate my way out of the labyrinthine ketoh rabbit hole, @TAH’s warnings of the potetnial to lose oneself are ringing loud and clear.
Here is a recent acquisition that occasionally finds it’s way onto my wrist.
Navajo, 4 3/8" x 3 3/8", ca. 1935
very cool @Ravenscry
Thank you @OrbitOrange!
That is a beautiful ketoh. I really like the side view stamping along side the silver domes. Do you have a background in photography? Your photo looks like something out of a Ray Manley magazine.
Thank you for your kind words @nanc9354, your compliment isn’t taken lightly. Ray Manley was on another level! I just enjoy nice photos.
I don’t, not officially anyway. Although, it is a form of art that I’ve always enjoyed. I definitely appreciate what I consider contemporary fine photography, and I really enjoy the older stuff, tintypes, Albumen prints, and the like.
