Sterling Cross Necklace with Turquoise Inlay, Southwestern Style

This vintage used necklace features a large sterling silver cross with turquoise inlay, about 1.75" by 2.50". The 17.5" necklace is composed of alternating sections of wafers of a natural shell called paper shell, black shell wafers, and wafers of powdered native turquoise. These bright bands are reminiscent of the bands of coral or king snakes, except in different colors. Ends of the necklace have graduated sterling silver beads with about .75" of sterling silver heishi, commonly called liquid silver. The necklace is finished with a sterling hook and eye closure. Some light toning of the sterling and paper shell, as you would expect of a piece that is 40 years old and used. It was strung on tiger tail, a wire based stringing material that makes breaking the necklace extremely difficult to do! A wild, one-of-a-kind necklace.

Back in the 70's I was in college and exploring my Indian (Native American for you pc folks) heritage (I've since learned my roots are Tuscaroran...further east than I thought given my Midwest location). During that time I was making a lot of jewelry with that type of cultural look, though since I was living in the mountains of the West at the time, much of it had more of a New Mexico/Arizona look. Many of these are now once again popular.

It is time to start letting go of the emotional attachment to some of these pieces, and let them move on to someone who will actually use or display and appreciate them.

For more great items from Dayspring Collectibles, click this link to go to our main shop page:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/dayspringcollectible



As always, buy more than one item from my shop and combine the shipping. I don't make a profit on shipping like some sellers do. However, etsy's shipping calculator doesn't do well with combined orders, so you may receive a partial refund on shipping after you place your order.

Keep in mind that many of my items are one-of-a-kind, and I have local customers looking at them. If you buy something that has just sold locally and wasn't yet been removed, the order will be cancelled and your full payment returned to you, unless I have a similar item in stock. You can always contact me before your purchase to confirm the item is still available.