Turquoise ring by Sarah Chee? ...and is turquoise real?

harmonart · September 15, 2019, 4:23pm

I couldn’t decide which category this would fall under! I’m hoping it’s real, but it’s so blue. The setting isn’t marked sterling but looks like it is. Only hallmarked with an S. Any help would be appreciated. I’m familiar with vintage and sterling jewelry but only recently developed an interest in turquoise and Native American jewelry.

harmonart · September 18, 2019, 11:05am

Any ideas at all about this ring, the hallmark or the stone?

OrbitOrange · September 18, 2019, 5:34pm

This looks like turquoise to me but it’s probably likely to be stabilized/color treated. Single letter hallmarks can be tough. Do you have reason to attribute it to an artist named Sarah Chee?

harmonart · September 19, 2019, 1:02am

@OrbitOrange, I was looking for the hallmark on this site…

https://www.art-amerindien.com/signature_indian_native_marks_mz.htm#s

harmonart · September 19, 2019, 1:18am

The lighting might be better in this picture.

OrbitOrange · September 19, 2019, 2:48am

Could be, but Hougarts lists about 12 artists that used a single S hallmark. And there are likely more. I think it will be hard to pin down.

harmonart · September 19, 2019, 3:02am

@OrbitOrange, I will look up that site and compare… or is that a book?

Thank you so much for helping me. I’m trying to learn all I can.

OrbitOrange · September 19, 2019, 12:07pm

Hougart’s is the most commonly used reference book for NA jewelry hallmarks. I’m linking here just so you can see; it looks like the current edition is out of stock on Amazon right now but you could likely find it elsewhere. I would consider it a much more thorough and authoritative source than the website you linked to (which I have also used before).