Identification Tips
The best advice for identification is to use your intuition along with the following guidelines. When buying authentic Native American jewelry, it’s definitely ‘buyer beware’, and if your intuition tells you its fake—most likely it is. These crafty cheaters are good, but they do make mistakes. Here are a few things to watch out for.1. Price - Although inexpensive novelty items are available from Indian craftspeople, authentic high quality Native American jewelry can be very expensive. Expect to pay a premium price for premium art.
2. Materials – Most Indian artisans use a few select materials when creating their masterpieces. Gemstones and organic materials such as turquoise, coral, and carnelian inlaid into silver, are a trademark of fine Native American jewelry. You will also see onyx, shell, lapis lazuli, and opal used.
3. Appearance – If something about the jewelry piece looks ‘off’—blurry, crooked, or poorly cut—it’s likely to be counterfeit. When designs are stamped into silver they must be clear—exhibiting unwavering lines—lopsided designs just don’t pass the test. In well-crafted Native American jewelry, only high quality stones that are well-cut and uniform in size are used, and they always fit snugly into their settings. Poorly cut stones revealing metal-colored glue visible between the stone and the metal, is a sure sign of an imitation. Many Indian artists use a ‘hallmark’ stamped into their jewelry to identify their work. Look for a symbol or signature of the artist.
Introduction to Materials & Production Methods
The three key components that determine the value of Native American jewelry are harmony of the design, quality of craftsmanship, and the materials used. It is important to know about the materials and production terms used in the jewelry you add to your collection for a number of reasons. Knowing how the stone was treated to achieve its special look enhances one’s appreciation of it. The quality of the metals used are an important indicator of the investment value of your piece. It is also fascinating for a collector to truly understand the jewelry they have in their possession. Silver is the most common metal used in Native American jewelry. Here is an introduction to some of the many forms of silver.
1. Sterling Silver – Any item stamped ‘silver’ must be sterling. It contains 92.5 parts silver and 7.5 parts other metal.
2. Coin Silver – Metal containing 90 parts silver and 10 parts other metal. Before Indians were able to obtain commercially made sheet silver and ingots, they would melt down pre-1900 American and Mexican coins to make jewelry.
3. German Silver – Some Sioux and Southern Plains Indian metalsmiths use this metal because it is associated with their cultural heritage. It is 60 parts copper, 20 parts zinc, and 20 parts nickel. German Silver is also called Nickel Silver, however, according to guidelines set out in the FTC Jewelry Guide, no item should be called silver unless it contains at least 90 percent silver.
4. Drawn Silver – Also called ‘liquid silver’ this is sterling sheet silver rolled and pulled through a drawplate, cut into tiny segments, filed and strung into strands for necklaces. There are still a few Indian artists making hand-pulled silver, but most liquid silver is machine made.
An introduction to some of the most common stones used in Native American jewelry.
1.
Carnelian (or Cornelian) – A beautiful translucent reddish-brown quartz stone.
2. Coral – Wonderful, organic coral is the hardened secretion of tiny sea animals and ranges in color from white and pale pink to deep shades of red and orange
3.
Lapis Lazuli – The deep blue colored mineral lazurite blends into metallic yellow pyrite and white calcite to produce Lapis Lazuli. The gorgeous blue stone is widely used in modern designs by contemporary Indian artists.
4. Onyx – Frequently dyed black to achieve more of a dramatic effect, onyx is a translucent quartz stone which is naturally gray or pale blue.
5. Shell – The hard outer shell of marine animals, the most commonly used in Indian jewelry are from pearl oysters and abalones. Shell is used in silver inlay work and may be shaped into disks and drilled to make heishi necklaces.
6. Turquoise – Turquoise captures the colors of the sky and the sea, and is seen in varying hues of green and blue. A copper mineral, turquoise often contains flecks and veins of gray or brown.
An introduction to some of the treatment processes that alter the properties or appearance of natural stones.
1. Dyeing – Black is added to naturally pale blue or gray onyx, and low-grade turquoise is dyed blue to enhance the stone’s appearance.
2. Reconstitution – Fragments of coral, turquoise, or lapis lazuli are pulverized into a powder, mixed with epoxy, shaped into stones and cakes, and used like natural stones in Indian jewelry-making.
3. Stabilizing – The sophisticated process by which a clear acrylic is injected into low to medium-grade turquoise to harden the stone and enhance its coloration. High quality turquoise gemstone is only used by top artists and is quite expensive. Most turquoise used in Indian jewelry-making today is stabilized.
For more information about Native American jewelry visit your local library or museums. Publications that focus on Native American art are:
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