TURQUOISE
Although
turquoise is mined around the world, the most famous turquoise
jewelry comes from the southwestern United States. Without question,
the Navajo and Zuni silversmiths from the Four Corners region
of New Mexico and Arizona produce the finest. They create myriad
forms of inlaid turquoise and silver jewelry, including rings,
bracelets, necklaces, earrings, pendants, brooches, belt buckles,
bola ties, watchbands, and even barrettes.
Nor
will you have trouble recognizing the style. It's as distinctive
as it is beautiful. Turquoise and shells are meticulously cut,
fitted and inlaid contiguously in handcrafted silver jewelry,
then sanded and polished to perfection. Some of the more contemporary
versions include channel setting. The best of Native American
turquoise silver jewelry still stands as a cultural expression
of a proud people with a remarkable heritage, shown through the
magnificence of their craftsmanship and imagination.
In
addition to shell, the contemporary stylists of turquoise jewelry
have also spun off tradition by combining a variety of other inlays,
including lapis lazuli, purple sugilite, malachite, jet and coral.
They also employ different types of shell, such as mother-of-pearl,
spiny oyster, pink shell, white shell, melon shell and red abalone.
