With the talk of faux pendants out there

On another thread where a Zuni inlay pendant is being discussed, it made me wonder about this one ( thread link: Help w/ Zuni Style Inlay Necklace )

I was thinking about purchasing this one…such an unusual scene. The seller describes it as Native American, but admits he does not know much about it.

It’s also hard to tell exactly what that makers mark on the back is.

What is your feeling on this one?

Micro inlay falls into the same category as fetish necklaces for me: fake until proven otherwise. Unfortunately the number of fakes on the market far outnumbers those that are genuine for both. The other thing to keep in mind is that genuine micro inlay is really a lot of work to create, so if the price doesn’t reflect that, that can be a big red flag. On this one I think the horses look a little strange and lack the proper detail, and the generic, one letter hallmark makes me suspicious.

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@OrbitOrange. I think that’s what’s making me question it, that the horses don’t look right. My cousin really likes this more than I do and keeps on telling me I should buy it. It seems that true native handwork wouldn’t have the horses missing some body parts… note the ones in the back have just a head, are missing legs, or are not very detailed.

Exactly. The horses are anatomically incorrect and lack detail. In the case of the one horse the “detail” that’s missing is its entire body. I think this is something that’s seen fairly frequently in fakes. Also, the bright blue turquoise has a cobbled look that I’m guessing is compressed turquoise, and the sea foam green horse, well that just looks like a piece of plastic. I’d hesitate to even call it block turquoise because I’ve never seen any stone anywhere near that color.

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In my opinion there is no question that is a fake import and poorly done at that. Some imports are actually quite good but this does not appear to be one. Single letter on back often is sign of fake. Whatever they are asking is too much

I ended up not buying it… too much of a risk, and the more I looked at it, the more the red flag details became more evident. I had not realized until I really started looking at these that there were so many fakes and imports, but I think there’s a lot more of those out there than there are the real thing, at least online!

I did end up buying this little guy eventually…this Matthew Jack ring that’s properly stamped with a full name and that aligns with other hallmarks and work he’s done.

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Matthew Jack is the real deal as are Clayton Tom, Tsosie brothers, Gilbert Smith, Jim Harrison and a few others, Parry Null is a good source as is Tumbleweeds Jewelry. you are correct that there are more fakes than authentic pieces wise decision

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I’ve been wanting one of Matthew Jack’s inlay rings for a while :heart:

@RedlandMaggie when I started researching his pieces, I saw how talented he was! This was a lucky find, and I love the simplicity of the scene yet it’s so nuanced in its detail. Truly the ability to do micro-inlay is a gift and an art.