Silver Sun: Necklace Open Heart Turquoise $66.00 - Western Wear,Southwestern Wear,Cowgirl Clothing,Cowboy Clothing,Leather Jackets, Fashion Accessories, Home Decor, Native American Art, Jewelry, Americana merchandise inspired by the American West

Turquoise Open Heart Necklace
Silver Sun
Ruth Ann Begay

Created by Navajo artist, Ruth Ann Begay, for Silver Sun. Open heart design of sterling silver, bright finish on 18" chain features Enhanced Sleeping Beauty turquoise, wear with matching earrings Style #3259. Shipping weight is approx. 3 oz.

A Note on Enhanced Sleeping Beauty Turquoise:
The Sleeping Beauty Turquoise mine is seven miles outside of Globe, Arizona. Its turquoise is noted for its solid, light blue color that lacks matrix. The host rock is usually granite. The owner and miner of the Sleeping Beauty mine, says that the mine produced about 1600 pounds of turquoise every month. Of that amount, only 4% was hard enough to remain unaltered. Another 80-90% of that amount is altered in some way, mostly enhanced. The enhancement process is more expensive than stabilization. Enhanced Sleeping Beauty is often sold to large distributors in the United States and Europe. Today very little is coming out of the mine. In the past year the production of the mine has slowed down, only small pieces have been coming out of the mine.

Meet the Artist - photo inset:
Ruth Ann Begay was born in Phoenix, Arizona, but her family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where she grew up speaking only Navajo. Her father brought the family to Albuquerque to get away from the traditions of the Reservation and raise his children modernly instead of traditionally.

She learned how to silver smith by watching her mother and her sister. Ruth began silversmithing professionally after high school and started with simple bezels, and soldering then moving on to decorative work such as leaves. She is now 53 years old, married and has one daughter, Desbah. When asked why she didn’t raise her daughter traditionally, she says, “Why send them back when they can go forward.” She has taught her daughter how to do silverwork but understands that Desbah’s interest lies in electric work.

Ruth and her husband live in Prewitt, New Mexico. She says that New Mexico is her favorite place to be.