What a wonderful thing to collect! You have a great grouping of sandcast rings! I have several pieces by Anthony Lovato, but haven’t heard of Anthony Bowman. Great to find another artist the check out.
Please don’t yell at me too loud.
My husband made this bracelet in 1986. The sand cast bracelet blank was purchased at Thunderbird Supply.
They still sell this blank.
Anyways, this was the first sand cast bracelet I ever had. Being young and foolish, I did not know that repeated bending would cause it to break. I think it broke in the late 1990’s, but I have saved it all these years.
Maybe someday I can get it repaired.
As we say in the environmental business @fernwood : sludge happens. That could be TIG welded with stones left in or since there are only two stones possibly @mmrogers or @Jason would be able to help. And annealing the silver would allow you to keep bending it again for a few times.
This is the only sand cast ring that I own. It’s a big ring. Hallmarked for: San Felipe, Jacob Troncosa, sterling. (I have one other ring by Jacob Troncosa that’s a real beauty set with a large green turquoise stone, but it’s not sand cast.)
Generally, once a bracelet is broken, even if soldered with high temp silver solder, the solder joint remains much weaker than the surrounding metal and wihen inevitable flexión occurs with wear, the joint will separate again. Sometimes a reinforcement section is soldered over the joint on the back side of the bracelet, but even then, the repair doesn’t usually last.
As @StevesTrail has suggested laser welding might work, but the weld will have to penetrate completely through, and with an item this thick that’s going to be very difficult.
Thanks @mmrogers . I was not aware of issues soldering cast pieces. And you are right, laser would not go deep enough. It would have to be TIG welded which would go deep.
I love that ring! I have seen some tufa cast rings on Reggie Mitchell’s sight, and been tempted. Yours is awesome!
Here are some of my fav sand/tufa cast items (I’ve posted most of them previously).
These 2 were described as sandcast; not sure if the cuff is Zuni or Navajo. Bought it at Ogg’s Hogan, and Jeff said he thought it was Zuni, but wasn’t sure because the heft of it made him also wonder if it’s Navajo. He said it was prob made in the 50’s. The buckle was my mom’s, and she bought it in '69; I believe at the Hopi House at GC. Neither are signed.
These are my most recent tufa cast items, Reggie Mitchell (Candelaria turquoise) and Anthony Lovato (Royston). Reggie has said he smooths out some of the texture of the tufa cast to create contrast. You can see that in my cuff.
The last 2 are smaller. Ira Custer and an unsigned one that I bought at Tanner Chaney Gallery in ABQ. The receipt says Morenci Turquoise.
These last pics show differences on the inside of a couple cuffs. Like @Bmpdvm noted, the backs of Anthony Lovato’s pieces are amazing.
Oh, my wedding band is even tufa cast (Dino Garcia)
Also, @Patina would you mind posting your other ring even though it’s not tufa? I hadn’t heard of the artist, and I looked him up. Love his work!
@Ziacat Here’s my other ring by Jacob Troncosa. I like his rings a whole lot. Sadly, I’ve had to pass on two beauties where the size was too large for me. To have them resized would’ve destroyed his hallmark in the inner band, and I didn’t want to do that.
That’s gorgeous! Do you know what the turquoise is? Looks kinda like the Royston in my cuff.
@Ziacat Thanks! I honestly don’t know what the green turquoise is. It’s really beautiful (but I just couldn’t get the stone to photo well). Maybe Royston, maybe Green Kingman, or general Nevada green turquoise .
All so wonderful @Ziacat! That buckle of your Mom’s is fabulous; you are so fortunate to have her collection! I guess I hadn’t seen or paid attention to your Reggie Mitchell cuff, but I love it…probably a close tie with Anthony’s cuff .
And @Patina …really wonderful ring. Another artist I’m not familiar with, but am impressed with. So many great artists…what’s a guy(or gal) to do.
This star ring is by Kevin Yazzie
Dragonfly ring Gary Custer
This cuff marked HL, probably Helen Long
This cuff marked P, the original tag said by Tiffani Par. I have to show all sides of this one, it’s really amazing.
Just gorgeous @Stracci! Love the rings, and the HL cuff, but the P cuff is exceptional and so unique! And looks great on your wrist!
That second cuff… perfect. And I remember the dragonfly ring! All 4 pieces are beautiful.
Thank you! As much as I love all my cuffs the frog one is still my overall fav.
The piece that started me on my Native American jewelry journey is a sandcast buckle my dad bought in '71 (I inherited that when he passed in '81). I didn’t post it here, cause I have questions about it that I have never had answered, so I will make a separate post sometime.
Broken record here, but you ladies have good taste in jewelry.
We do now, don’t we?
Finally did something I wanted to do for many years.
This is a new sandcast blank from Thunderbird Supply.
It is marked with Sterling and their item number.
Will not need to bend this one very much for a perfect fit. Only bend once.
I plan on having a local artist add some of my 1980’s Turquoise and coral to it. Still working on the design. I will provided the turquoise, bezel and some other things.
Please let us see it when it is finished