Navajo Indian Genuine Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Sterling Silver Cuff Bracelet.

Navajo made by P. Benally. This stunning shadowbox bracelet features large, genuine Sleeping Beauty Turquoise nuggets set in Sterling Silver. Intricate hand stamped traditional details highlight and enhance the beauty of the Turquoise. The Silversmith, P. Benally, has produced this particular design for over 25 years. Each a unique hand made work of art. The shapely curves of the cuff make it easy to wear and mold to your wrist. It is 1-1/4" wide at the center and will fit a 6" to a 7" comfortably. Stamped Sterling and signed P. Benally. Hand stamped designs and Turquoise nuggets may vary slightly, you'll receive one from the group pictured below.

The Sleeping Beauty mine is located near Globe, Arizona. Its turquoise is noted for its solid, light blue color with no matrix. Sleeping Beauty turquoise is the favorite of the Zuni Pueblo silversmiths for use in petite point, needlepoint, and inlay jewelry. This mine is one of the largest in North America and is still operating.

There are many legends about Turquoise; The Pima consider it to bring good fortune and strength and believe that it helps overcome illness. The Zuni believe that blue turquoise was male and of the sky and green turquoise was female and of the earth. Pueblo Indians thought that its color was stolen from the sky. In Hopi legend the lizard who travels between the above and the below, excretes turquoise and that the stone can hold back floods. The Apache felt that turquoise on a gun or bow made it shoot straight. The Navajo consider it as good fortune to wear and believe it could appease the Wind Spirit.

The Navajo were the first of the southwestern Indians to produce metal jewelry. Around the mid-19th Century a Navajo Medicine Man, Atsidi Sani, convinced a Mexican blacksmith to teach him the art of working with metal. When the Navajo returned to their homeland in 1868 after their imprisonment at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, traders arrived in the area bringing silver coins with them. It was with these coins that the Navajo began to make silver jewelry.

We understand the true value and nature of hand crafted Indian art. And, we recognize it's important to know that the artist is truly a member of a Native American tribe. So, to ensure you that this is the real deal, a Certificate of Authenticity has been included with this item.

CERTIFIED AUTHENTIC