Santo Domingo
Turquoise Nugget Choker Necklace
Santo
Domingo Turquoise
Nugget Choker Necklace
$85 plus s/h (insurance
included)
Length
(end to end) | 25 1/4" |
Diameter | 1/4" - 3/8" |
Stones | Medium sized turquoise stones with heishi spacers, finished off with heishi to the sterling silver cone ends and clasp. |
Artist | Ramona Bird, Santo Domingo Pueblo Indian. |
A traditional necklace with great interest and variation in the stones.
The stabilized turquoise stones used here are great.
Santo Domingo Pueblo artists are famous for their skill in making hand rolled and cut beads known as heishi. Made from shell, turquoise, and other stones, they are painstakingly cut by hand into delicate beads and strung on necklaces.
Santo Domingo artist Ramona Bird has always been a full-time jewelry maker - that is, except for being a full-time mother to three children. She is the daughter of Josephine Coriz who taught her to drill and cut stone. They still work together but also have their own jewelry lines too.
Their work is some of the finest, and we mean both in quality of work and use of delicate, very tiny heishi. That makes for exquisite drape and feel to their necklaces.
What is stabilized turquoise?
Often in heishi necklaces and other nugget necklaces, the turquoise has been stabilized. This means that a natural turquoise nugget has been treated with a stabilizing agent that closes the pores of the stone so it will not change color or fracture. This allows the artist to use smaller beads for necklaces; they would otherwise fracture if not stabilized. It also means your turquoise jewelry will look just as bright and beautiful years from now as from the day you purchased it. Natural turquoise, although beautiful, can deteriorate over time, losing color and stability. Most heishi and nugget necklaces use stabilized turquoise for this reason. Read more about heishi here: All About Heishi.