This Navajo bracelet is like many others in that it is a ridged band with a turquoise setting. Many were made, and they are not difficult to find. However, this is a very unusual piece in many ways. First, the turquoise setting is placed on a plate with cast fleur-de-lis projections--not a common detail at all. Second, the heavy and even stamping on the outside of each outer ridge is an extremely skillful and unusual feature.
But the most interesting thing about this bracelet is the way the ridged band was made. Usually, ridged bands made by the Navajo at this time (circa 1915-20) were made in one of three ways: casting, filing a solid band, or joining multiple tri-wires. This piece was done by joining three hand-drawn tri-wires. Usually, this was done by joining the wires at the ends with a strip of silver. This would create the effect of a solid band, although in reality the tri-wires would only be joined together at two points. Though the wires might be touching all the way around the bracelet, they were not actually soldered together. A line would be visible from both the inside and the outside. But as you can see in the photo below, no such line is visible from the outside of this bracelet.
To fill the gaps between the wires, this smith did something we have not seen elsewhere--he took thin strips of silver and soldered them on the inside of the bracelet, creating a single solid band all the way around. The strips are clearly visible in the photo below.
This took quite a bit of work, and the result is absolutely beautiful--one of the most stylish and interesting Navajo bracelets we have owned.
The inside size of this bracelet is 5 1/2" with a 1 1/4" opening, and it can certainly be adjusted. It weighs in at an impressive 86.6 grams. As our Piece of the Month, the special price is $1875.
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