Commonly known as “Indian jewelry,” this style is so deeply ingrained into the regional culture that it might seem to be an ancient tradition. But turquoise-in-silver jewelry only originated only in the 1880s through an unlikely combination of cultural, economic and technical influences.
THE BEGINNING
Mexican blacksmiths first taught Native Americans the rudiments of ironworking in the 1840s. Navajos later applied these skills to easily workable silver, fashioning such ornaments as pendants, bracelets, necklaces and disks called “conchos”—named after the Spanish concha, or “shell”—for decorating belts and hatbands.
By the 1870s, silver-working skills had spread to the Hopis and Pueblos, but only a minor craft that served limited tribal markets. But change came rapidly in 1881 when a transcontinental railroad built across northern Arizona and New Mexico carried growing numbers of passengers who were intrigued by “Indian” silver jewelry as the perfect souvenir of their travels. The jewelry market that soon developed offered a rare economic opportunity for Native Americans who had recently been confined to reservations. To enhance the appeal of their silver work they complemented it with what had been the region’s premier gemstone for some 2,000 years—turquoise.
THE TURQUOISE
This story is from the June 2023 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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This story is from the June 2023 edition of Rock&Gem Magazine.
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MORGAN HILL POPPY JASPER
In California, there are very few places to collect semi-precious stones. Many locations from the past have been either exhausted of the material or the land has been developed.
THE ACORN
The briolette gemstone has the same design attributes of a regular gemstone, however, the pavilion is elongated and the crown is usually domed. This is perfect for an elegant pendant, earrings or a pendulum.
HOW TO PUT A PROTECTIVE CAP ON A CAB
To protect a specimen cab, often a cap is needed. In my case, I had a slab with the because of the color of the background and the pattern. This background had a more silicified consistency than most sandstones. It had no graininess like most sandstone, so I'm inclined to compare it to a jasper. The pattern was typical of a dendrite.
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For the first time, the Anne Brontë rock collection underwent complete description and identification, and along with Professor Hazel Hutchison of Leeds University and Dr. Enrique Lozano Diz at ELODIZ (a company specializing in spectroscopy analysis), an analysis of that collaboration, Anne Brontë and Geology: A Study of her Collection of Stones, was published in April 2022 in Volume 47, Issue 2 of the peer-reviewed journal, Brontë Studies & Gazette.\"
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