Sterling Silver Sonoran Gold Turquoise Mary Ann Spencer Navajo Cuff Bracelet

[Size]
Bracelet Length: 5.5 in.
Gap Width: 1.25 in.
Total Size: 6.75 in.

Don't you love turquoise? Mary Ann Spencer found an unusual specimen of Sonoran Gold turquoise and adorned it with beautifully patinated silver. Lord knows I love interesting cuffs. Making a piece of fine jewelry takes much effort and we’re glad this artisan took the time to perfect it.

Sonoran Gold turquoise is found in Cananea, Sonora, Mexico. It's just south of the Arizona border in the Southwest region of the United States. It’s often found in nugget form -- mostly smaller nuggets ranging from a dime to a silver dollar in size. However, sometimes you get to discover larger nuggets. With larger bits of Sonora Gold turquoise, the question is always, “What do we do with it?” Sometimes the answer is to shape it into smaller cabochons and fashion them into rings and other jewelry. But larger specimens have a special quality of having many of the features of the smaller pieces. This lends itself to displaying more details. If you’re very familiar with Sonoran Gold, you can just as likely imagine this gemstone being the size of a ring.

As we mentioned earlier, larger Sonoran Gold nuggets are uncommon and they’re a challenge to work into aesthetically pleasing jewelry. So, when we evaluate this piece to find what it is about it that makes it special, we can see that the turquoise has special turquoise features at a different scale. So what does Mary Ann do? She cuts the grand turquoise piece into an oval gemstone. She also designedappliques that have larger features so a sort of illusion happens. You see this larger piece of jewelry (a cuff) and in your mind's eye, you see the features of a finely made ring. You love it because your mind bounces back and forth as the piece plays with scale. That piques your interest and you continue to look at it. And this is the point of fine jewelry as art or art as fine jewelry. It’s a masterpiece. When this cuff sells, I’ll feel a little sad. That happens from time to time because I know I won’t see it again other than in my old photos. I can’t make it make sense. Obviously, the point of a store is to sell, but some items I think about long after they’re gone and wonder “I hope they love it as much as I did”.