Here's another very old, turquoise & silver "tourist" bracelet that we purchased from a well respected pawn trader in northern Arizona, adjacent to the Navajo Reservation.
This old beauty, from the "Fred Harvey" era, features three turquoise stones that are each set in silver bezels and are surrounded by silver raindrop beads. One stone is bright blue, the second is green and the third is a blue/green combination.
The stones are mounted on a thick silver shank that is made of three separate bands. The upper and lower bands are three sided and the center band is a heavy silver twisted rope. The upper and lower are decorated with hand stamped designs.
The inside measures 5+1/8" long plus there is a gap of 1+1/4". It weighs 42 grams and measures 5/8" wide.
As with most older Native American jewelry there is no artist's hallmark nor any indication of the silver content.
The pawn trader, who has extensive knowledge of older Native American jewelry, told us that this is a perfect example of "Fred Harvey" era jewelry and that it was probably made during the 1930's - 1940's.
Despite it's age and travels the bracelet is still in pretty good condition, but it can use some TLC. The green and the blue/green stones have small surface cracks but the stones are set firmly in their bezels and have no movement. We would suggest leaving them as they are because this is what you should expect from stones that are this old. One of the outer bands of the shank is cracked (probably from somebody trying to adjust the size improperly) but it can easily be repaired (soldered) by any good jeweler or silversmith.
The bracelet can use a bit of cleaning but we'll leave that for it's next owner. Our policy is that we do not clean dead pawn or vintage jewelry as most of our customers prefer to receive these older pieces "as is".
This wonderful example of very old, handmade, Native American art will certainly make a great addition to your jewelry collection or a wonderful gift for that special someone in your life.
