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scarletts_mommy

native american jewelry?

Scarletts.Mommy
12 years ago

i have a piece of jewelry that my brother dug up when we were children and we think it may be native american but we really arent sure. im hoping that perhaps somebody else looking at it could give us an idea. i have pictures of it, just not sure how to get them on here. thank you!

Comments (19)

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    There are directions in a post on this page called how to post a photograph.....read and follow the directions.
    Linda C

  • Scarletts.Mommy
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    first picture

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • Scarletts.Mommy
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    last picture

    Here is a link that might be useful:

  • sweeby
    12 years ago

    Looks Mexican to me... Are there any markings?

  • Scarletts.Mommy
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    no, just the etchings. theres two tiny bracket like things on the sides so there may have been a back to it

  • jemdandy
    12 years ago

    look in the magazine, "lapidary Journal/Jewelry Artist", to find many similar examples. This magazine caters to hobbyist jewelry makers.

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    I would bet dollars to doughnuts that it's silver....either sterling or coin.
    One medallion looks like a plains Indian and the other like a wolf.
    The stone looks like perhaps jade or malachite...
    But what is it? is it a scarf holder? a ring or a bracelet? hard to see what it is.
    I don't think it's American Indian....and I really don't think it's Mexican. I think it's something hand made by a silver artesan.
    Nice! Whatever it is!
    Linda C

  • Scarletts.Mommy
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    wow how interesting... it is silver, im not sure if its sterling or coin. how can you tell the difference? and because of the shape we think a bracelet. thank you so much for the info

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    Coin is 900 parts out of 1000 pure silver. Sterling is 925 parts....
    You really can't tell with out a test.
    Is it big enough for a bracelet? doesn't look like it.

  • Scarletts.Mommy
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    heres the piece next to a quarter for reference

    and the back so you can see one side has two little fixings and the other side has one

  • lindac
    12 years ago

    Can't make sense of the second picture......
    Fixings....could that have been a catch?

  • Scarletts.Mommy
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    the second picture is of the piece stone side down. im not sure what you mean by a catch..

  • lazy_gardens
    12 years ago

    Definitely Mexican .. Aztec warrior in profile and the creature is the "Feathered Serpent". Stone is probably jade or a similar stone or even glass.

    Probably one link from a bracelet or necklace, warped from whatever broke and buried it.

    Any markings about metal content would have been on the closing, or the links closest to the closing - only one mark required per piece of jewelry.

    http://img3.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.320296679.jpg shows what the linking might have looked like.

  • Scarletts.Mommy
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    incredible!

  • Scarletts.Mommy
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    any idea how i would sell this or whom would be interested in it?

  • jemdandy
    12 years ago

    Whatever it was in its past life, now it could be a napkin holder or a kerchief slide? I think that part of it is missing.

  • lazy_gardens
    12 years ago

    Gently straightened out and with the appropriate mounting, it might make a nice pendant ...

    but 1/10th of a Mexican bracelet on its own doesn't have much market value.

  • calliope
    12 years ago

    I also think it's a Mexican jade or jasper cabochon, and possibly a bracelet piece. The spiral coil on the flip side is a common piece in such jewelry, where a rod runs through it to hold the links together. And if you Google Mexican silver bracelets jade cabochon you'll find many similar pieces in various designs. Most are listed as vintage or retro and intact ones seem to run from one to three hundred on those sites.

    Here is a link that might be useful: mexican bracelet back

  • sweeby
    11 years ago

    It might be half of a watch cuff --