Here is the first piece of turquoise my husband purchased. It is represented as a 1970s Sleeping Beauty Zuni ring. The hallmark is a sun with 16 rays. I love the choice he made.
Any guesses on the hallmark are appreciated.
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Nice ring. Art-Amerindien website shows this mark (S19) to be unidentified as to a maker but that needs to be checked against other sources.
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@here4turquoise A very handsome ring for a gentleman. Wonderful inlay work. And you can’t go wrong with bear paws, imo.
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Thank you @StevesTrail We will keep searching. I appreciate your assistance.
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The turquoise is such a lovely color, and that is a cool bear claw. Hubby has good taste 
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No idea who made it, but this ring is lovely. The colour of the inlay stones is amazing.
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Stone and inlay work are really lovely. Everything about the ring is high quality. The ring itself is lost wax cast, and unlikely to be a one off, so I wouldn’t be surprised if others turn up. IMO, as lovely and high quality as it is, this is unlikely Zuni made
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Thank you @Patina He really likes the turquoise without matrix.
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Thank you @Ziacat He was looking for a single cab but liked this one when he tried it on.
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He really liked the Sleeping Beauty inlay. Thanks for stoping by.
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@mmrogers As always thank you for sharing your thoughts. It is great to hear the ring is high quality. My concern is a shop that has been in business for over 20 years listed it as Zuni.
Should we try to address this with the owners or let sleeping dogs sleep?
I highly value your opinion.
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Unfortunately, longevity isn’t always an indicator of virtue. If authenticity is important to you, I would respectfully ask for verifiable provenance (hearsay and conjecture are always plentiful, but don’t count). If none is forthcoming, the claims remain just that,“claims”.
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Thanks again. I appreciate your help and an avenue to approach the shop.
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You’re welcome. Either way it’s a beautiful, well made ring.
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Just curious…what clues tell you that it probably isn’t Zuni? Thanks!
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Well @nanc9354, half a century of experience in the trade including years spent trading in Zuni Pueblo proper working with and buying from hundreds of Zuni craftspeople. I’ve handled and worked with a lot of genuine Zuni jewelry.
Plus the fact the ring isn’t hand fabricated and is cast from a mold made from a professional wax carving cast into master from which the molds were made for the production cast blank. The multi tiered structure and nature of the design itself look nothing like genuine Zuni.
I’ve also seen a lot of this type of merchandise over the years. Most of it is made overseas, and while it is often falsely represented as native made, and untold quantities of the stuff are currently in circulation, it usually isn’t.
Do I know with absolute certainty? Nope. But I’m a pretty good guesser.
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Great sleuthing @Steve! I wonder how well these would sell at a 10X markup if the sellers were honest about the fact these were likely designed and produced at a sweat shop in Asia?
I suspect actual ground zero is a place like Cebu Philippines, or somewhere in China or Indonesia. One big problem is that much of this merchandise is currently being imported with peel off labels rather than permanent marking or stamps. Once the labels disappear, there is no way to establish origin or a chain of custody leading back to Asia, and the fraudsters mass importing these goods into the US market.
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@Steve Once again you have hit the target! Thank you forum gumshoe!
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While it is hard to see in print, I am so grateful. We are going back to the shop this morning.
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