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Turquoise Quality?


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On 8/15/2020 at 7:57 PM, YubaJ said:

Brian,

         I've been dealing in turquoise and silver since the 70's boom years and would say that the bracelet is nothing special--a very commercial Navajo product, but the stone looks to be a high-grade Nevada stone with a crack or a chip out of it. Can't identify the mine as there are many that have the black & blue combination. It seems that the eBay asking prices for Native American  jewelry has really increased recently. Scarcity? Most of the so-called 'vintage' NA jewelry is mediocre in execution, made by piece-makers for commercial dealers.

          Joel

Thanks Joel, really appreciate the feedback!  About when do you think it was made?

HH,
Brian

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Hey YubaJ,

Are you familiar with the Turquoise out of the Nevada mines? I was watching a show about the family owned mines there! They have "White Buffalo" there too! I gather that it's coming back into popularity!!👍👍

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Hi Joe D,

           Yeah, that Turquoise Fever show you saw is by the Otteson Bros--website of the same name, and on another website they have they explained that the White Buffalo is not turquoise, but a magnesite mineral that polishes up well. Those guys are about 200 miles S of me in south-central Nevada. There are a couple of other small outfits mining in that general area, either the Royston or the Candelaria area. Though there's turquoise around where I am, there's only a couple intermittent producers that I'm aware of. And the turquoise has really come back into popularity. The rough has become expensive. Check out "bestturquoiseonearth" on eBay for a look at some of the best stones from N Nevada.  And the prices! The spiderweb variety is the most sought after.

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I was a working Silversmith for two decades and repaired a lot of silver and turquoise jewelry for the local shops as well as produced several hundred pieces of hand wrought and cast items.

 The turquoise looks like a low quality Bisbee Mine cabachon. The crack in the cab takes the value down somewhat as condition is everything.

The silver bracelet is of medium quality and I don’t remember seeing Navajo bracelets stamped 925 very often in the 1970/80’s. Usually it was stamped Sterling.

The Turquoise stone looks to be stabilized so if in fact it is that will give you an idea of its age. To me I’d say late 1980’s early 1990’s.

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Revisiting this thread, I just thought I would show some silversmithing I did when I was in my 20’s. This is one of my earliest pieces. A shadow box with a heavy gauge silver and nice turquoise cab. It’s been so many years ago I don’t remember the mine it came from but it, along with other stones, I bought from two miners in Sholow AZ.

 

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Looks like nice work! Did you stop altogether! Or still dabble?👍👍

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Thanks Joe! I do still have all my tools except the casting equipment and I still have a ton of cabachons. I have produced a few pieces after I wound down but haven’t done anything in 15 years. I may have to revisit that part of my life again as this thread has piqued my interest. Interesting to me, on the early piece I didn’t stamp it Sterling.

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    I hope you do start up again, if you enjoy it! I'm a big fan of silver and turquoise! To me, those kinds of skills are few and far between anymore! And would be valued over the mass production, low quality, from China and others, that is so prevalent now!

  A Unique maker's mark is a bonus!

    Good luck! And keep me posted! I would be interested in some of your creations!👍👍

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Thanks Joe. I certainly will should I decide to start smithing again. A HM is a must this time. Best of luck.

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