Large White Buffalo stone heart pendant

Handcrafted heart pendant by Navajo artist Happy Piasso. She is 40 years old (2014) and is married to Rudie Willie. She was born and raised in Alamo, New Mexico and has 2 children, one of which is in the military. Happy was taught the craft of silversmithing by her husband, Rudie.

The uniquely styled heart pendant features twist & round stamped stars that surround the white buffalo stone.Made of solid sterling silver this pendant has a medium weight. This is a outstanding piece by one the Navajo nations most talented artists

Measurement: total length-2-1/4" and a maximum width of 1-5/8"

Bail: 13mm

Stone: The White Buffalo stone originates from the Tonopah Nevada area found in the same general veins as Dry Creek turquoise but has no copper content.  Considering this fact, it should therefore NOT be called “white, turquoise” as it does not have the same chemical composition as turquoise, which is a copper phosphate.  There is no copper to cause blue color or iron to cause green color.  It is a mostly clean white calcite/quartz mix with black chert inclusions (matrix) that are more sharply defined as opposed to being smutty.  The better stones have clear delineations of black and white.