Authentic
Native American Jewelry | |||||||||||
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Ben Begaye, Navajo | ||||||||||
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Ben's typical hallmark features the name "BEN BEGAYE" in unique uppercase letters with a stylized feather motif.
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About Ben BegayeBen Begaye was an award-winning Navajo silversmith born in 1960. He is known for using gorgeous Jasper specimens with traditional Navajo stamp work. He specialized in Traditional Revival designs that captured the 1980's look of heavy traditional Navajo silver. Ben used finishes from mirror polished to satin to antiqued. |
About Silver100% solid silver won't tarnish but it is too soft to use for making jewelry - it could easily be scratched, dented and bent. Sterling silver has a small amount of one or more other metals usually copper, added to the silver. To be called sterling silver, the alloy must contain at least 92.5% pure silver. Sterling silver alloy is harder than pure silver but the added metals also can cause discoloration or tarnish. |
About JasperJasper comes from the Greek word, iaspis, which means "spotted stone." A form of opaque microcrystalline quartz, jasper derives its colorful patterns from iron and other minerals. Jasper can be found in a wide variety of patterns and colors, including shades of red, brown, orange, yellow and gray. Unicolor jasper is actually quite rare. Almost all jasper stones are multicolor, featuring stripes, spots or flame-like patterns and it is often named according to its pattern. Jasper has a dull luster but takes a fine polish. It is mined in North Africa, Sicily, France, India, Venezuela, Germany, the U.S.A. and elsewhere. It is thought by some that jasper has the power to give a person courage, drive away evil spirits and protect against bites of snakes spiders. |
