Large White Buffalo & Black Onyx necklace set

Navajo handcrafted necklace set by acclaimed artist Albert Jake. The center piece of the set is a large pendant with a White Buffalo stone measuring 1"1/2 x 1"1/4. The artist has used unique silver designs for the setting. The single strand onyx and silver bead necklace measures 18". Both the silver and onyx beads range in size from 5mm to 10mm approximately. The matching earrings are a dangle on a silver wire. The pendant is removable allowing you to wear the necklace and earrings as set. Beautifully crafted.

Style:  Repoussé or repoussage refer to a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief. Chasing, chased work, or embossing refer to a similar technique, in which the piece is hammered on the front side, sinking the metal.

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.