This is a dead pawn, vintage, turquoise & silver "tourist" ring that we recently purchased from a well respected pawn trader in western New Mexico.
The ring features a coutour surfaced turquoise stone that's set in a silver saw tooth bezel and is surrounded by applied silver leaves and raindrop beads.
This size 7+1/2 ring weighs a comfortable 9 grams and it measures 1+1/16" long.
The inside of the ring's band is stamped with the artist's hallmark but there is no indication of the silver purity.
Despite it's age and travels this wonderful old beauty is still in very good condition. The stone is set firmly in it's bezel and is neither cracked nor chipped. The silver shows only minimal signs of wear.
After doing our "due diligence" we determined that the ring's maker is Mike Davis, a Navajo silversmith who worked for the Atkinson Trading Company. And, based on information the pawn trader was able to give us, the ring was made during the late 1970's.
The ring can use some cleaning and polishing but we'll leave that for it's next owner. Our policy is that we don't clean dead pawn or vintage jewelry because most collectors prefer to receive these older pieces "as is".
