One of the oldest and most common types of jewelry in Native American art is beaded turquoise bracelets. Before they learned to work with silver from the Spanish, they had to use the materials and methods available to them. Beaded jewelry typically involved stringing these gems together with natural materials that could easily be woven, like fabric.
It wasn’t until the Navajo learned how to work with silver from the Spanish did the tribes start using silver in their beaded jewelry. Now, beaded silver turquoise bracelets will use strung silver chains to hold the gemstones together and link with a nice silver hook at both ends.
Many tribes have adopted this way of jewelry crafting, none more so than the Navajo. Depending on the artist, there can be many different shapes, cuts, and colors to their beaded silver turquoise bracelets and contemporary artists have become more daring with their placements and shapes of the stones as well.
One approach is to be simplistic, making the sizes and shapes of the turquoise stones uniform, another would be a more natural and rocky shape that mimics how the stone is found in the Earth. Some artists will try to refine the turquoise stone, giving it a glossy look in the process.
No matter the approach, the result is always stunning. The variation of blues and greens, in particular, make the pieces come to life.
Some artists will also incorporate different stones to stretch the range of color in their beaded silver turquoise bracelets. Some common stones that are used in conjunction with turquoise are coral, oyster shell, and tiger eye.
When looking for quality beaded silver turquoise bracelets, make sure that the turquoise is real and the pieces use silver as the string that ties it together. Navajo artists use their cultural history and skill to create simply stunning pieces that are perfect for anyone.