Turquoise & Silver
Native American turquoise and silver jewelry is very pretty and has been popular for a long time. My introduction to turquoise came when I attended an auction of Indian handcrafted Items in 1973. It was held in a large conference room and there were lots of bidders. Souothwestern style jewelry was having one of it's periodic booms at that time and I got really caught up in the excitement of the auction. I remember paying $125 for an eight ounce baggies with several peices of turquoise.
Unfortunately, as I realized later, it was so soft it would not even have made good chaulk and certainly had no value whatsoever as a gemstone. I try to think of these experiences as tuition.
We bought and sold other turquoise jewelry over the years, but eventually quit because of the difficulty of identifying genuine and stabilized turquoise. "Clever" folks have learned you can treat bad turquoise with plastics under pressure and produce a stone that will take a polish and hold up in a ring or necklace. There is nothing wrong with this if the stones are sold as reated. However, on its way from the mine to the stone cutter, to the polisher, to the wholesaler, to the retailer, to the craftsperson who actually uses the stone there is lots of opportunity for someone to "forget" and claim to be selling the real thing. I eventually concluded I would have to study for the registered gemologist designation if I wanted to be sure I knew what I was buying.
I have purchased a few pieces of Native American silver and turquoise jewelry on Ebay, but am very careful about what I bid on. I was fortunately to see many examples of old jewelry, especially Navajo, and have a "feel" for what is real. If the piece fits my idea of old, I will consider bidding because I expect the turquoise to be real too. It's far from a sure thing, but at least improves the odds.
The old Navajo pieces were usually heavy with lots of silver. I look for handmade silver beads and stamps made with homemade tools. Of course, jewelry currently being advertised as "vintage" is frequently from the 1970's, and made during the time I was deciding I couldn't tell real from stabilized :)
Try looking through the listings below and see if you can spot the old stuff. Keep a list and revisit the auction after it closes. There are lots of very knowledgeable bidders for the real turquoise jewelry and few "sleepers" get by them. After you have honed your skills at recognizing the real Native American turquoise & Silver jewelry you can try finding some of those deals yourself.
If you are interested in other kinds of Native American arts and crafts we also have an Acoma Pottery site where the pages will automatically pre-select Acoma Pottery auctions for you. We have another site which automatically brings up Hopi Indian Arts & Crafts . If you are interested in "sleepers" check out our Mexican Silver website. I think Mexican silver items are a product where quality work can be bought cheaply now, but may increase in value as more people become familiar with it. Finally, Gems of the Southwest goes into more detail about stones other than turquoise that have a place in Native American art.