The mix of turquoise and opals has gained in popularity this season. The two stones highlight one another and together make a confident fashion statement. The jewelry is colorful and fun, yet unique and modern at the same time.
A unique style adopted for current turquoise jewelry reaches into the past for inspiration. Jewelry styled with petroglyphs has become a fresh look. Petroglyphs are rock carvings found in ancient Native American dwellings. These carvings date back thousands of years. They are usually simple pictograms of important areas of tribal life.
The petroglyph shapes are usually cut out from sterling silver and applied around gemstone backgrounds. They are found in rings, bracelets, necklaces, belt buckles, and earrings.
Chunky turquoise necklaces are again popular. One of the most modern trends in this fashion category are the necklaces made by the Santo Domingo tribe in New Mexico. Long known for their distinguished history of jewelry making, the Native artisans of the Santo Domingo Pueblo are masters of bead jewelry.
The pueblo is located near the Cerillos Mine, which is where the turquoise was originally mined by the Tano Indians. Gold, silver and lead were also mined from this area by the Spanish.
The Santo Domingo artisans are masters in making the heishi beads. These are handmade flat circular beads that are strung together to form necklaces. Heishi means shell and originally referred to that material used for the beads, but now is used as a generic term for any material shaped into a flat bead.
Large rings with centerpiece stones remain a hot fashion trend. Turquoise rings have long been made with large stones. Paired with other gemstones, including coral and abalone, these rings are inset into sterling silver.
Contemporary Native American Jewelers
In the 1960s, a Hopi artist, Charles Loloma, dramatically changed the direction of Southwestern jewelry with his Frank Lloyd Wright inspired designs. His work influenced countless artists and paved the way for contemporary jewelry design. Though, Loloma used unconventional materials like sugilite, lapis, ivory, gold, pearls, diamonds and even wood, he used turquoise as an accent to his pieces.
Ray Tracey is a nationally known Native American jeweler who has been in the forefront of design. His works are inlaid with many gemstones, including turquoise, lapis and opals. He is considered on the cutting edge of combining ancient and modern styles in his jewelry.
Nationally recognized jeweler David Rosales has been making contemporary gemstone and silver jewelry for decades. He founded the artisan group Super Smiths, hand-picked jewelers who create stunning Native American pieces by hand.
A comprehensive list of Native American jewelers can be found at Garland’s Indian Jewelry.
Turquoise is worn to celebrate the natural life of sky and water and the inner life of blessings, good fortune, and long life.
Debbie Whittemore - I've been blogging for the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) since 2006. SIBA is a trade association which represents over ...
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