History of Indian Jewelry

Handcrafted Indian jewelry made by the Navajo, Zuni, and Hopi silversmiths in northern Arizona and New Mexico have evolved over the years from the traditional turquoise based silver jewelry to the more contemporary multi-colored stones and shells inlayed in silver.

This Southwestern style of Indian jewelry has been a unique product of the American Indian ever since silverwork was introduced to the Navajo Indian Atsidi Saani who learned about blacksmithing at Ft. Defiance, Arizona in the 1850s.

The Navajo Indians later introduced the art to the Zuni Indians approximately 125 years ago. After returning to their lands in 1868 following their 4 year internment, the Navajos began to adapt and learn how to silversmith among themselves. In the 1880- 1900, they gradually obtained the tools and sources of silver from various traders and the Fred Harvey Company. From these crude beginnings, the art of making Indian jewelry slowly evolved to the highly polished silver pieces representative of todays market. Today Indian jewelry is recognized worldwide as a dynamic and exquisite artform indigenous to the culture and heritage of the Indian tribes in the Southwestern United States.

Each of the distinctive, Hopi, Zuni and Navajo silversmiths have a style unique to themselves. The Hopi Indians produce an overlay style; they cut a design out of a flat piece of silver, joining that piece to another piece and then oxidizing the inside of the first piece in a base relief pattern.

Traditional or the more familiar Navajo Indian jewelry consists of various types of blue or green turquoise set in an intricate handcrafted silver piece of artwork; squash blossom necklaces, concha belts and beaded strand or stone fetish necklaces are popular examples of this traditional style handcrafted Indian jewelry. On the other hand, traditional Zuni type of jewelry emphasizes the use of stones and shell held together within the sterling silver design. Zuni artists are renowned for their channel inlay patterns of multi-colored stones and shell meticulously crafted and united together in aesthic color patterns.

The traditional turquoise used in Indian jewelry comes in several different shades of blue and green from several different sources. These sources include Blue Verde turquoise from the Old Vega Mine in Nevada, Lone Mountain turquoise from Tonopah, Nevada, Sleeping Beauty and Morenci (sky blue color) turquoise from the copper mines in Arizona, Persian turquoise from Iran (this is the standard by which other turquoise is compared with), and the richly veined greenish Chinese turquoise from China and Tibet.

The contemporary inlayed silver jewelry, popularized by the "Santa Fe style" sold to the "jet set" and ski crowds in the art galleries and shops in Santa Fe and Taos, originated from and is established by the Navajo and Zuni Indian silversmiths from the Four Corners region of New Mexico and Arizona. This contemporary inlayed jewelry consists of a pattern of different colored stones or shells usually separated by a strip of silver bezel laid in a handcrafted piece of silver jewelry. Each individual stone or shell is painstakingly hand cut, press fitted together, sanded level and then polished to form a seamless mosaic of color. In addition to the different types of turquoise, contemporary style inlayers use blue lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, purple sugilite from South Africa, green malachite from African, black jet from Utah, pink, red and orange coral from the Mediterranean, green snail shell from the Philippines and various other seashells including mother of pearl, spiny oyster, pink shell, white shell, melon shell, and red abalone from the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Ocean. Contemporary jewely reflects the efforts of the Indian silversmith/lapidarian to express an artistic aspiration of his culture and heritage to the world in terms of its beauty, richness, meticulous workmanship and charm.

Examples of traditional stampwork jewelry shown in these photos include rings, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, belt buckles, bola ties, hair barrettes, watchbands, pins, pendants and brooches. Our company offers to the public authentic traditional style and contemporary handcrafted Indian jewelry. We are constantly striving to bring the best innovative and authentic designs in Indian jewelry and art to the public.