Sterling Silver Kingman Turquoise Juanita Long Navajo Ring

There’s a detail in this ring that I love a lot.

No, it’s not the pretty piece of green Kingman turquoise. There’s much to be said about it, but it’s just a very pretty color and I love it a lot. It also sits high in the bezel, which I can appreciate. I’m not wearing a gorgeous ring for you to totally miss that I was wearing a gorgeous ring. I may as well stick my hand in a sack or something.

No, it’s not Juanita Long’s master-class level repousse work. I mean, it looks like a gorgeous Victorian mirror frame. It’s all even and neatly filed. Draw a line between all of the spaces and they line up. That’s extremely difficult to do with hot silver. I couldn’t do this with cake icing if you gave me a month.

No, it’s not the fun mirror symmetry of the curled, twisted wire at the top and the bottom. My eyes move to those parts constantly. It moves from the turquoise, along the edge of the frame, to the curly piece at the top, then to the bottom, then back to the top. Then I scan left, then back to the turquoise and it repeats. Mission accomplished there.

What is it? It’s Juanita Long’s raindrops! Raindrops are those dots of silver surrounding the stamped repousse pieces near the middle. There are two on each side. OMG, I love them so much! They’re so smooth, even, and pretty. They’re burnished and have the right amount of patina -- the same amount as the tops of the repousse applique.

Why does this matter? Big details matter a lot. This is a wonderful piece of turquoise. But those little details matter just as much for large pieces. Without those little details, it’s just a big ring. With those little details, it becomes a work of art. When you wear it, the whole ring becomes a little detail that turns you into a work of art.