ABOUT THE ARTIST:

When the well known & highly collectible Santa Fe’an artisan “Brett W. Bastien” was in his late teens, Mr. Bastien along with some assistance from his family friend, which was the renowned Chiricahua Apache sculptor ALLAN HOUSER, Brett was granted an exceedingly rare privilege for a non-Native to become the first non-Native student accepted into the Santa Fe’s highly sought after “Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) and was allowed to take part in the jewelry instruction program led by distinguished contemporary Pueblo jeweler Duane Maktima and by Hopi painter and ceramicist Otellie Pasiyeva Loloma, wife of the celebrated Charles Loloma.

These names alone, say all there is to know about Brett, to have names like Allan Houser and Otellie Loloma who believed in you that much & what a high honor Brett must have felt to be accepted into one of Santa Fe’s most prestigious schools that are strictly Native American because of them!

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Taken From: El Palacio Magazine, Santa Fe, 2014(Read Below)

Santa Fe jeweler Brett Bastien, known as “Big White Boy” for his six-foot–four-inch stature and “BWB”(Hallmark initials share both for his name & “ Big White Boy”!) jewelry hallmark, was the first “Anglo” student accepted at IAIA. Although he did not attend during Houser’s tenure (Houser had retired by that time), he credits Houser with helping him get accepted into the school. 'He actually wrote a letter so I could attend,' said Bastien. 'I moved to Santa Fe in 1984. Houser had been featured in Arizona Highways. I really wanted to meet him. Then, as fate would have it, he wandered into my parents’ store—Indian Trader West, on West San Francisco Street.' Bastien and Houser developed a friendship that would last for the duration of Houser’s life.”

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THE RING:

This highly collectible ring is an older ring of Brett’s, but I can’t give a definite year.. My guess it’s either from the 1990’s or early 2000’s.

Created in it’s entirety, is a technique known as “Cobblestone Inlay” (which is not to be confused with “Cornrow inlay”) Cobblestone inlaying requires a highly skilled jeweler to hand-shape, bevel, and polish each individual stone before setting them into either gold or sterling silver.. This of course is made with the latter, where the cobblestone inlay is laid in a wide tapered shank.

Each cut lays tightly against the other & is designed with various sized and shaped cuts of blue turquoise. On the center front lays a linear shaped Italian red Coral & Lapis that is separated with a sterling bar in between.

It’s masculine on the finger and a real keeper — a bold, timeless piece for the ‘Manly Man”! Brett’s work is not the easiest to find, and when you do, you snap it up! He was such a beloved and well-known fixture here in Santa Fe!

I want finally mention: I admire Brett’s unique hallmark! It’s done so that whichever way you turn the ring, it it still has the backward “B” !

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ARTIST: Brett W. Bastien

TRIBE: None-Anglo with Native/Southwestern Influences

CIRCA MADE_1990’S TO Early 2000’s

RING SIZE: Front Side: 11-3/4-Underside at Center: 11-1/2 (Because of the wide shank, I personally think you should wear an 11-3/4 ring size)

SIZEABLE: No-Due to Design

WEIGHT: 19.3 Grams

FACE SIZE: 3/4” Tall X Tapers down to 3/8” on Underside

METAL: Sterling

STONE: Natural Turquoise-Italian Red Coral-Lapis

STONES SHAPE: Various Size’s and Shapes

TECHNIQUE: “Cobblestone Inlay” where each stone is Hand Cut, Shaped, Beveled

SHANK: Tapered

CONDITION: Used-But was well taken care of! I see no stones cracked, chipped, nor loose. Shanks Shape is in Original condition.

HALLMARK: "BWB”/Sterling ( with a backwards B at the beginning)

Comes Gift Boxed

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SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT:

Because of the price,this will have a mandatory signature confirmation requirement. If you're not home in the day & need it shipped where it can be signed for, please change that in your "Ship To" section before I create the shipping label***I'm sorry if this may be an inconvenience, but I do not ship expensive pieces without one. This is for your safety & mine.

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PLEASE READ BEFORE PURCHASING:

In order to give you close up photos so I can provide you with all the detail, can tend to make the item look GIGANTIC & everything is more magnified than in actuality.. So to get an accurate idea of how big this is, please view it on the finger or what you can do is pull out a tape measure & compare to my given measurements.

*****I do not consider myself a 'professional photographer" but I do try to give you photos that are 'realistic" in color, so please take this into consideration when viewing the photos.. Remember, every monitor is different since some can show something to be more vivid and other monitors can make it look duller.