ABOUT THE ARTIST:

32 year old Cooper was born, raised & is presently residing on the Navajo reservation in the town of To’hajiilee,(Toe-hah-jah-lee) NM, which is just west of Albuquerque. Cooper was blessed to be born into a large family who are rich in Navajo tradition & who are all jeweler's who've made a name for themselves in the jewelry industry. .Cooper's the son of Lonnie Willie (Lonnie’s the brother to Ronnie Willie) & the brother to Tawney Willie & learned to make traditional Navajo jewelry from his father Lonnie ,who happens to be the one who taught all the family, including Ronnie, as well as his own parents.

Like Lonnie did with Tawney,he started Cooper out by having him work with copper,so if there were any mistakes,it wouldn't be at such a costly price..He then taught him stampwork by having him practice with nickel silver.Cooper has taken what he's learned from Lonnie by putting to good use all those valuable techniques, while developing his own style & while doing it in his own way.

Having mathematical & analytical characteristics forces him to be the 'perfectionist' he is & one thing you'll never find him making is "mediocre jewelry". No matter the price or the size,he wouldn't dare make anything less than the best..This is an artist who is gifted with an excellent "attention to detail" eye that are spot on & impeccable! His lines are clean & precise & everything has to be in perfect balance & very uniform!

His specialty is doing heavy gauge Men’s jewelry, with the focus on extremely masculine men's rings,He's a "Manly-Man's" artist & is highly sought out by men because of this.

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A NOTE:

This is one of 12 rings that Cooper made for me that come in large, to hard to find XL & XXL sizes! (See last photo) And It's for these "hard to find" large sizes, is the reason why I couldn't have asked any better artist that specializes in Men's rings, to make them! Men with large fingers know how hard it is to find a ring that fits, with many time's being forced to get one custom made! So whether you're a Football player, truck driver, construction worker or a man who just has a large finger & would love wearing a handsome turquoise ring with a true masculine edginess, I now have them in stock, including XXL sizes 16-1/2!! (or greater!!!)

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THE RING:

The # 8 mine closed down a number of years ago & is no longer active,except for what's being mined for gold. This stone was actually mined back decades ago & has been apart of Cooper's father's collection.. # 8 offered such a wide range of blues, as well as matrix patterns that ranged from spiderwebbing to very fine lines.

This large sized oval cut has what would be considered a "Baby Blue" color or what I would call a "Pastel Blue" The smooth beveled stone was cut by Lonnie & is bezel set & sit's in a high shadowbox setting.(As opposed to a typically low set shadowbox setting) Using a thick gauge triangular wire for it's border, Cooper then chiseled the east/west-north/south areas of the sterling.

The face of the ring sits on a masculine tapered shank that is precisely designed. This hearty shank is designed with a 'dual finished'-dual textured" sterling where the base is oxidized & has texture, while the higher polished wire has a smooth finishing & has more of a contemporary/mirrored polish finished sterling. Because of this, the 2 are accentuated. (See photos 4,5,6,8) Also I want to mention that by using thick gauge wire for the shanks perimeter, gives the shank about a 2.6 mm thickness, (About 1/10th") so it's very durable!