Navajo High Grade Bisbee Turquoise 3 Shank Ring - Will Denetdale (#267)
$350.00
Artist: Will Denetdale
Size: 10
Will Denetdale has taken a fabulous cabochon of high-grade, natural Bisbee turquoise and set it in a double stack setting that enhances it perfectly. The stone was mined back in the 1970s when you could still get Bisbee on a regular basis. No more, the mine has been closed since then and Bisbee of this quality has become rare and is much more desirable. Will is a top-notch artist who works silver in a masterful manner.
Bisbee Turquoise
Bisbee turquoise jewelry is highly coveted by collectors worldwide. The signature look for Bisbee turquoise is a dark lavender blue color with a deep chocolate brown to black matrix. Some of the most distinctively recognizable Indian jewelry has been set and photographed containing classic Bisbee turquoise. As with all turquoise, there is a wide variety of quality from the Bisbee mine where color and matrix patterns can vary a great deal.
The most productive period of the Bisbee turquoise mine was the 1950's and 1960's. The mine has been closed since the early 1970's and is currently owned by Phelps Dodge Corp. Bisbee Mine. Arizona, Cochise County. Turquoise is a copper compound and, in the case of the Bisbee mine, is found in the open pit copper mine known as the Lavender Pit. At this mine, it is typically found as stringers up to a few inches wide; as small nugget-like masses in granite and quartzite; or as minute stringers in massive pyrite.
About the artist:
Will Denetdale - Navajo Jewelry:
One of the most talented Navajo gold and silversmiths currently producing jewelry, Will Denetdale is making an indelible mark in the world of Native American art. His name is becoming famous in his trade; his art a standard by which other pieces may be judged. Will's success as an artist is proportionate to his devotion, and Will Denetdale lives to make jewelry.
Related legends:
Silversmith Work
When and how the Navajo acquired the art of working metals is unknown but there are reasons for supposing that it was introduced among them, or at least more developed and improved upon by them, since the time they have occupied their present country?