PROVENANCE:

The original owner of this received this from her aunt as a vintage piece in the early 70's,but was then confirmed through a top curator & appraiser at Santa Fe's "Museum of Indian Arts & Culture" that it is definitely from somewhere around the 1940's (Give or take)

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DESCRIPTION:

One thing this has going for it is it's excellent workmanship & historical character!

This is designed with a traditional & undeniable Navajo look & is made in a wide setting & is one of the prettiest vintage Navajo cuffs I've seen & I say that based not only on the overall aesthetics, but for the artist's artistry that you see on the cuff's shank, which is literally a piece of art in itself!! Outside the center stones,it has been designed with marquise shaped repousse work (See backside of cuff) as well as impressive stampwork. What I find intriguing is how when you get toward the terminals is how the artist tooled this section..As I look at it, this section has been stamped,but what looks like a 'Water Wave" design, actually looks as if it could be a 'overlay". (It's either that OR it has a 'raised' stamping) The shank is scalloped & then rounded at the gap. I have to say every time I look at this I say to myself, "If the artist was this good back then, then what would their jewelry be like today"?? You have to remember, they didn't have the tools like we have today,which makes this that much more impressive!

The cuff is accented with soft rounded trillion shaped cabs of natural "Blue Diamond" turquoise, which is considered one of the 'hardest' of turquoise found (Hardness Equates to quality in Turquoise) & is considered collectible." Hard" turquoise also maintains it's color through the years since it's less porous & will stay the color that it started out being.. Normally on "softer" more porous cuts, the blue turquoise will deepen to teals then to greens. These are still blue,so it tells you these are high quality turquoise cabs!

The sterling is super dark & is "NATURAL" patina! The darkening that has developed over the years is what artist's of today are trying to emulate, as if the jewelry is "aged"..This patina IS the real deal & has not been touched by anyone to make it look this way! This will be left once sold.

The gauge feels like maybe a 16 gauge,(?) so it's not heavy,heavy like some Navajo cuffs..It's made for a larger wrist,but for a wrist that's not so 'fleshy' since it has a 1" gap. (A fleshier wrist would need a wider gap to put it on) If you're not sure of what wrist size you have,I suggest you click on "HOW TO FIT A CUFF", as well as copy/pasting the You Tube video,which also gives some valuable info!