Some of Our Favorite Treasures

Ric Charlie is an award-winning Navajo jeweler, best known for his exquisite tufa cast jewelry. These tufa cast earrings start at the top with a texture that reminds us of the universe. The stones are natural domestic turquoise - Ric only uses the best! The face is a Navajo Yeibichai, an intelligent force of nature. Dangling below are the elements of lightning and rain.

Ric has received numerous awards from competitions at the Heard Museum and Sante Fe Indian Market, including Best of Show, Best of Class, and the Raymond Dewey Memorial Award for Excellence in Tufa Stone Casting. They dangle from sterling silver wires. These earrings were in the collection of the owner of Gathering Tribes.

Size: 3.125" Long x .675" W

This Lucky Fish bolo tie was made by award-winning Yaqui jeweler Michael Horse. The scenic sun, forest, and lake were engraved in tufa and then cast in silver (more about the process of tufa cast jewelry below). A high-grade, gem purple sugilite fish catches the eye (more about sugilite below). A brilliant Mexican opal radiates from the sun, and a natural Kingman bead represents the water. It moves along braided brown leather and ends in sterling silver tips. Signed by Michael on the back. More about Michael Horse.

Size: 2.675 H x 1.975" W - Length of leather to the sterling silver tips 44" 

Tufa Cast Jewelry: Tufa is a volcanic stone which can be as dense as chalk which has an organic texture. The first thing a jeweler does is examine a piece of tufa for any tiny fractures.  If it looks good, the tufa is cut in half and, if there is a design, it is carved into the tufa.   There is a pour hole carved into the top and several narrow vents carved into each side.  The two pieces are then bound together tightly and molten silver or gold is poured through the hole at the top.  If there are any cracks, the tufa explodes when the metal is poured in and the process has to begin again.

Sugilite: Gem grade sugilite is very rare and has been since it was discovered in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa in 1981. The stone was brought to the world-famous Tuscon Gem and Mineral Show a few years later where it caused much excitement including to the owner of Gathering Tribes who at that time owned a lapidary and rock shop in Californa. The highest grade of sugilies is called gem sugilite and is translucent and even more rare. There is no more new purple gem sugilite coming from Earth.

What's not to love about this sterling silver naja pendant?  At the top is an arrowhead, perhaps for protection. Rainhow man encircles the piece with arms and faces at each end. Stamp-work birds are at the top, and the entire piece has been oxided to give it that dark silver color. It is a tufa cast piece - more on that jewelry making process below. On the back is a loop that can go onto your favorite necklace or wear it with a chain. 

Size: 2.125" H x 2.125" W

Tufa Jewelry: Tufa is a volcanic stone which can be as dense as chalk which has an organic texture. The first thing a jeweler does is examine a piece of tufa for any tiny fractures.  If it looks good, the tufa is cut in half and, if there is a design, it is carved into the tufa.   There is a pour hole carved into the top and several narrow vents carved into each side.  The two pieces are then bound together tightly and molten silver or gold is poured through the hole at the top.  If there are any cracks, the tufa explodes when the metal is poured in and the process has to begin again. 

This vintage A+ grade, sterling silver Navajo handmade Blue Gem turquoise bracelet is definitely a keeper! Three gorgeous stones set on a braided silver wire and have sterling silver domes between them. The heavy gauge silver of the bracelet is stamped with traditional Navajo designs and end in a bar aross them all for comfort. The patina on the silver only comes with age. This bracelet was in the personal collection of the owner who had it since the 1990s, but it is much older than that. More about Blue Gem turquoise below.

Size: 5.25" Long with 1.125" Opening

About Blue Gem turquoise from our friends at Sunwest Silver: The Blue Gem mine, which is no longer active, produced almost every shade of green and blue turquoise imaginable. The Blue Gem mine site is located near Battle Mountain. It produced a great variety of turquoise, from intense blue to deep green combinations with a hard, irregularly distributed matrix. The Battle Mountain or Blue Gem mine, which began production in 1934 yielded the most valuable Blue Gem turquoise because of its rich color and hardness.

Of the several Nevada mines that are named Blue Gem, this is the largest and most famous. Blue Gem turquoise tends to form in very thin slab forms rather than nugget, although the largest nugget ever found weighed 178 pounds. This mine was one of the deepest with lots of underground tunnels. Blue Gem closed in the 70’s and there does not seem to be much available today.

Award-winning Yaqui jeweler Michael Horse  has done it again!  He set a  natural Bisbee Turquoise weighing 39 carats in a 14kt gold bezel on heavy gage sterling silver.  He textured the silver by pounding it on a river rock from the river he lives near.  Michael inscribed his name inside the bracelet. This is definitely an heirloom piece.

About Bisbee Turquoise: Bisbee turquoise is some of the most highly valued and sought after turquoise in the world and only comes from one place in Arizona. The Bisbee turquoise mine was closed in 1974.

Size: 6.5" Long wit 1.125" Opening x 1.25" W - Stone 1.25" H x 1.125" W 

Cheryl Beyuka carved this rain blessing bird from silverado jet which has a metallic sheen.  The eyes are inlaid red coral, and it wear a necklace of pearls, laps, red coral, turquoise, and Mother of Pearl.  There is enough space between the wings to place offerings of corn meal, tobacco, or whatever feels right to you.

Size: 1.5" H x 3" L x 1.875" W

Birds are seen as messengers between this world and the spirit world.

Traditionally, Zuni carvings are symbolically fed cornmeal.   Each Zuni fetish comes in a box with a descriptive card and a tiny bit of corn meal to tide them over until they reach you.