Concho Belts
Concho Belts are among the most striking pieces of Native American Indian jewelry. Conchas (named after the Spanish word for shell) are round or oval disks of silver. Conchas, also called conchos, are used in groups to decorate belts. The belt itself is called a "concha belt" or sometimes a "concho belt." The concha belt is another example of the foreign elements of design which the Navajo People adopted, changed and developed into a very unique piece of jewelry and a symbol of the Navajo nation. The Navajo have taken a design which they may have borrowed from the Mexican concha bridle ornament or from the oval shaped hair ornaments worn by the Plains Indians and added designs copied from the leather stamps of the Spanish and Moors. The shortened name, concha (or conchas for more than one) is used to describe these belts.
The very earliest (first phase) concha belts had round concha forms and a slotted center through which a leather belt would be threaded. These round conchas were simple in design and were made of heavy-gauge silver. They were made by all hand die stamping. The conchas were often hammered out of single Mexican or American silver dollars. They had a decorated outside edge. Later, when Navajo silversmiths started soldering, copper loops were soldered to the back of solid conchas for threading the leather belt. In the 1890's the open center was no longer functional and, instead, an oval or diamond-shaped stamped pattern replaced it. The large center rosette was embossed by the use of a male and female die. Because they were copied from harness buckles, early belt buckles were small. Between 1900 and 1920 turquoise stones and butterfly spacers appeared, along with repousse work.
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