Turquoise/Native American jewelry

[alanfgag]

No posts in 2025?

I have a new piece to share - my first of the new year. I have several pieces by Sam Roanhorse, the younger brother of Ambrose Roanhorse. He lived from 1915-1983 and worked as a bench smith for a number of prominent Southwest shops including the White Hogan. The style of his work can range from traditional to modernist - the craftsmanship I find to be top notch. His pieces do not show up often so I was excited to see a new listing on my saved search. There is some controversy on the mark used by his famous brother but there is no confusing Sam's stylized SR.

 

[dh66]

No posts in 2025?

I have a new piece to share - my first of the new year. I have several pieces by Sam Roanhorse, the younger brother of Ambrose Roanhorse. He lived from 1915-1983 and worked as a bench smith for a number of prominent Southwest shops including the White Hogan. The style of his work can range from traditional to modernist - the craftsmanship I find to be top notch. His pieces do not show up often so I was excited to see a new listing on my saved search. There is some controversy on the mark used by his famous brother but there is no confusing Sam's stylized SR.


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That's a pretty impressive piece....and it looks like it'd crack somebody's head if you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to.

 

[alanfgag]

That's a pretty impressive piece....and it looks like it'd crack somebody's head if you ever found yourself in a situation where you needed to.

You know it’s on. At 19 grams, a little heavy on my pinky. Might consider having it sized up a bit for my ring finger but will wear it around some first.

 

[Bfd70]

Thinking i’m looking for a turquoise belt buckle if anyone has a spare.

 

[alanfgag]

Zat-geist for a Wednesday morning.

 

[Bamaboots]

I’ve been looking for a buckle for a particular belt ever since I had one made for it. The buckle is exactly what I asked for, it just never quite satisfied me or looked right with the belt, IMO. I had decided I wanted a ketoh sand/tufa cast one and I looked at a lot of them. Many have similar patterns and one is often indistinguishable from the next unless you spend Roanhorse money or maybe Ambrose Lincoln but I was hoping not to spend that much either. I could have really stepped off and bought one of Ralph Lauren’s ‘artist in residence’, Neil Zarama’s pieces for even more.
$1895. Nah.

This one from Wilson Begay came in today and I’m quite happy with it. WB has been making jewelry for about 60 years and still does along with his wife Carol whose parents (Chee) were also silversmiths.

 

[Trouser Bark]

If a man w/ a table muscle ever owned this bad boy he'd never be able to sit down!

 

[alanfgag]

Very nice. I had a sand cast buckle by Wilfred B Henry that I bought years ago and hardly ever wore. Sold it last week.

 

[Fayrawks]

My two Navajo sandcast silver belt buckles. Bottom one has tarnished quite a bit; will need to clean it up soon.

 

[technovox]

Just picked up this bad boy...been getting some compliments on it. Unsigned. Personally, I like them with a bit of tarnish and wear.

 

[zakzavada]

Just picked up this bad boy...been getting some compliments on it. Unsigned. Personally, I like them with a bit of tarnish and wear.


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This is a really strong piece. Completely agreed about the tarnish, gives it some character. Sometimes I give my daily wear pieces it a light buffing with a jewelers cloth to get little bright shine on the edges while leaving tarnish in the pockets. My favorite look.

 

[Leigh H]

I’ve been looking for a buckle for a particular belt ever since I had one made for it. The buckle is exactly what I asked for, it just never quite satisfied me or looked right with the belt, IMO. I had decided I wanted a ketoh sand/tufa cast one and I looked at a lot of them. Many have similar patterns and one is often indistinguishable from the next unless you spend Roanhorse money or maybe Ambrose Lincoln but I was hoping not to spend that much either. I could have really stepped off and bought one of Ralph Lauren’s ‘artist in residence’, Neil Zarama’s pieces for even more.
$1895. Nah.
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This one from Wilson Begay came in today and I’m quite happy with it. WB has been making jewelry for about 60 years and still does along with his wife Carol whose parents (Chee) were also silversmiths.


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Sneum make a nice repro for a good price

https://sneum.com/products/navajo-inspired-sandcast-buckle-belt

 

[LeeR]

Just picked up this bad boy...been getting some compliments on it. Unsigned. Personally, I like them with a bit of tarnish and wear.


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That is nice. Is it sandcast? Type of turquoise?

 

[technovox]

That is nice. Is it sandcast? Type of turquoise?

I bought it from a thriftstore, so there's no history or provenance on it. And there's no maker's mark or hallmark, or any identifying marks on the back. Just unknown. And I'm not familiar enough with different turquoise mines to venture a guess as to the type of turquoise. I'm assuming it's sand cast.

 

[DogFacePonySoldier]

since I picked up a black denim FreeNote sinclair shirt with turquoise snaps. I’ve been interested in acquiring very nice stuff