Sleeping Beauty Turquoise Sterling Silver Bolo Tie.

This is southwestern artistry at it's finest. This is a bolo that you can definitely make a strong impression with. This incredible bolo holds nuggets of genuine Sleeping Beauty Turquoise within the frame. The artist skillfully hand-made this one out of Sterling Silver. Hand-stamped southwestern designs and hand-made 'Navajo Tear Drops' give this extra ornamentation. This quality bolo is 1-5/8" by 2" with a 45" long 4-ply bolo cord that are finished with Sterling Silver tips. The photo is of the hand-made bolo you'll receive.

Turquoise, the robin's egg blue gemstone worn by Pharaohs and Aztec Kings, is probably one of the oldest gemstones known. Yet, only its prized blue color, a color so distinctive that its name is used to describe any color that Resembles it, results in its being used as a gemstone. Turquoise has been, since about 200 B.C., extensively used by by southwestern U.S Native Americans and by many of the Indian tribes in Mexico. The Native American Jewelry or "Indian style" jewelry with turquoise mounted in or with silver is relatively new. Some believe this style of Jewelry was unknown prior to about 1880, when a white trader persuaded a Navajo craftsman to make turquoise and silver jewelry using coin silver. Prior to this time, the Native Americans had made solid turquoise beads, carvings, and inlaid mosaics. Recently, turquoise has found wide acceptance among people of all walks of life and from many different ethnic groups. The name turquoise may have come from the word Turquie, French for Turkey, because of the early belief that the mineral came from that country (the turquoise most likely came from Alimersai Mountain in Persia (now Iran) or the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, two of the world's oldest known turquoise mining areas.) Another possibility could be the name came from the French description of the gemstone, "pierre turquin" meaning dark blue stone.