White Buffalo Necklace Set with Sawcut Detail

Small and lightweight, this modern squash blossom necklace stamped Navajo artisan FRANCIS features nine highly polished, teardrop-shaped White Buffalo stones set in an oxidized setting of twisted rope wire flanked by small, raised conchos and hand cut, hand stamped designs. The necklace is strung on foxtail wire and features fluted sterling silver beads for a feminine look. With matching earrings, this set is an elegant take on jewelry from the southwest! Center stone is slightly larger than the other eight with a 1.5" drop.

Measurements: 24" long. Matching earrings measure 1 1/4" x 3/4". *All measurements are approximate

Material: Sterling silver, White Buffalo

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. Squash Blossom definition: While squash blossom imagery can be found in petroglyphs (rock art) that pre-date European contact in the Southwest, Dubin said the squash blossom necklace was created in the late 1870s or early 1880s after the native people of the area contacted Spanish Mexicans. The Navajo, it is believed, were the first tribe to adopt the design, but by the early 1900s, the art form had spread to neighboring tribes, including the Zuni and the Pueblo. While the entire necklace has taken its name from one type of bead, the classic squash blossom necklace has three distinct parts: the plain round beads; the round beads Naja.