I was given this beautiful ring as a present a few years ago. It is a real beauty and the inside is stamped “Sterling”. What I nevertheless found strange that it is not signed by the silversmith. The work is incredible fine and I think there are real stones used. Please let me know your opinion about “REAL” or “FAKE”. Maybe you can give me also a hint to the silversmith if it is “the real thing”. Thanks
The style is Navajo inlay. Unfortunately this is one of the most imitated styles coming out of places like the Philippines. It is also very difficult to get the right answer. This is a newer style and you would expect to find a hallmark on the inside of the band, but I have known artist’s to forget their mark several times. What I am looking at is what symbols the ring should have. I am assuming they are attempting to make a Yei’ face, and that means that fan or feathers is usually on top of the head. Here we find it below the mouth and the head is not a complete circle.
https://www.perrynulltrading.com/nsearch/?form_key=8RIOPloajMM9imKA&q=Ervin+tsosie
This is an example of what is trying to be designed in the ring. Most likely it is synthetic opal in your ring, but that is very commonly used by the majority of Navajo lapidary artists.
Sorry, we just don’t know. It might be rude to ask the person who gave this to you as a gift about its origin, but you might ask where they got it because you want to find matching earrings.
3 Likes
Maggie,
The firey blue and green stones are cultured opals (man-made opals), the white stones look to be a combination of white magnesite(a naturally occurring stone) and a shell inlay (it appears to be a faux mother-of-pearl, but it’s hard to tell from the picture). The black stone is likely to be onyx (naturally occurring). As for the turquoise, it could be genuine turquoise, but I will not assume this because it is equally common to use both genuine and faux turquoise in inlay jewelry. If you If you are able to post closer pictures maybe we can tell. You could also try a needle test if you are feeling up to it.
Even though not all of your stones are natural, a lot of work was put into this ring. I have read that when thin strips of silver were set into the inlay (like your ring), that this was time consuming work, and was often indicative of a higher- quality piece of inlay jewelry.I read this many months ago, and I will try to find a source to reinforce that statement. This really is a beautiful ring Maggie, this is something I would totally wear:purple_heart:
I do believe this could be a Native American- made ring. I will try and research and look for other jewelry with a similar motif and style, and perhaps this can lead us to some answers.
Also, I am happy to know that so many beautiful pieces of Native American jewelry have found a great home with you all the way in Berlin!
2 Likes
Thanks for your reply. I know the imitations from the Philippines but mostly I could tell in a second that they were not the real thing. Not in this case though! Unfortunately my aunt who gave me this as a present has died already so I can not ask here about the origins. But she was the one from whom I inherited most of my jewelry until I got hooked myself with my first buy: a beautiful coral cuff from Rick Martinez.
Greetings from Berlin
3 Likes
Thankss a lot. I added some pictures hopefully closer this time.
Greetings from San Francisco. Berlin is a incredible City! Micro inlay is in my humble opinion, can create beautiful results. I feel this is the case with this ring. Lovely.
2 Likes
The same is true for San Francisco! Glad you like the ring, I love it.
1 Like
That’s debatable…
. If your interested in a Apartment Trade SF for Berlin, please contact A.S.A.P.!
1 Like
Whether it is “real” or not is beyond me, but it certainly is really beautiful, and the workmanship put into it is incredible.
1 Like
by now it does not matter to me anymore…it is a beautiful piece and I wear it!!!
1 Like
And there in lies the value!
3 Likes