LEARN ABOUT LEON IN THE ‘ABOUT THE ARTIST’ DROP DOWN!

ABOUT THE STONE:

Known for it’s distinct & simply incredible purple color,Charoite comes from only one place & that is Siberia, Russia.It is said to be on the ‘rare” side & is not only known for its swirling hues of deep royal purples,with plays of lighter lavender colors,but its magnificent quartzy opalescent characteristics,as well..

This AAA quality Charoite cut has had no treatment done to it & up close looks like a water painting! It's definitely a stone that is truly mesmerizing! It’s obvious the stone was cut by a real pro & is cut where it’s formed into a pyramidal shape,where each of it’s 4 sides are perfectly beveled,creating almost a ‘pillow cut’ feel.The stone has a high polished finish.This is probably one of the more incredible cuts of Charoite that I've ever seen!

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THE CUFF:

With many of today's artists taking the fast road by buying already made products that go into their jewelry,Navajo artist "Leon Martinez" is considered "Old School" & comes from a era where literally EVERYTHING was done by hand.He has continued in this tradition just like his ancestors & anything you'll get of his is a guarantee that it will be made with all his time consuming techniques!

Each of the fan shaped appliques you see,started out as melted down sterling that were formed into beads & then were all hand pounded to their right thickness & then cut,shaped & hand stamped with their indented design..Yes,designing jewelry like this is very time consuming,but this is what sets Leon's work apart from the from many others..

Using the Charoites shape is what Leon built his shape upon, by creating a square base that has accents of thick gauge hand twisted wire,along with triangular & scalloped fan shape hand pounded & stamped appliques.1/2 moon shape shields fill in the sides.These then sit atop of a 5 split-10 gauge round wire shank,which helps to make this cuff feel nice & solid! The wires are soldered together as it nears the end toward the gap,giving greater strength to the already hefty cuff. The sterling is then hand finished in a gorgeous & gleaming vintage revival style finishing!

Contemporary & modern day,but every bit being old school Navajo just like it was made decades ago!