Old Pawn Antique Vintage Jewelry

On a Native American Indian reservation, any jewelry or Native American art that is 100 years old is considered to be very old, antique, vintage, or ancient. Off a Native American Indian reservation, such as a Navajo reservation, old pawn represents genuine authentic Indian jewelry. Although it is the opinion of some pseudo-experts, old pawn was not jewelry originally made for pawn. It isn’t a piece of jewelry that a Native American Indian has pawned because he or she was in dire financial straights and needed money. For collectors of Native American antique vintage old pawn jewelry, the emotional attraction and value of old pawn Indian jewelry is that it was once owned, appreciated, worn, and used by actual Native American Indians. It is as an intimate relic of a people and a culture that is slowly disappearing into history.

Native American jewelry experts have researched Native American Indian silversmiths and antique vintage old pawn jewelry, and they are convinced that most of the old silversmiths produced a higher standard of their art for Native American Indians than they did for traders and other non-Native American Indians. When a Navajo man or woman wanted a piece of Native American jewelry, he or she went to a silversmith, usually a relative. The piece was customized to order, scaled to the individual’s size, and built. More often then not, the buyer furnished the old jewelry, silver, turquoise, or anything else that was needed. Native American jewelry had many different purposes, which included decoration, a display of wealth, and as collateral against loans at a trading post. The pawn rack became an important and respectable part of the economic and social life of many Native Americans such as the Navajo people. Native American jewelry moved in and out of pawn shops at regular seasonal intervals, which were synchronized to the spring and fall lamb, wool, and harvest activities. Much of the Indian jewelry was removed from pawn during the summer dances and ceremonies, and returned again during the winter months.

The discerning Native Americans knew beauty and skilled craftsmanship; therefore, they would not wear poorly constructed or inadequate jewelry. The quality and color of the turquoise may not have been the best; however, the silversmithing was expected to be of high quality. The Navajo people kept their silver bright, shining, and untarnished by buffing or brushing it with yucca suds and water. The amount of cash or credit advanced depended on the value of the amounts of silver and turquoise, as well as, the owner's credit rating with the post. Native Americans rarely pawned all of their silver with one particular trader. Established traders set their own time limits with the individual regardless of the general law which required traders to hold pawn for only thirty days. One licensed pawn rack in Gallup, New Mexico holds Native American jewelry in their vault for 90 days. If a loan contract is not paid or extended, it is displayed in a warning case for 30 days before it is classified as old or dead pawn. Old pawn racks were rich sources of the jewelry created by the finest Navajo silversmiths of their day, for Native American people, and untouched the influence of other people and cultures. If antique vintage old pawn jewelry could tk, it would tell a story of happy times, times of sorrow, and ceremonials as it traveled along the path of Native American life.