Navajo silversmithing traces its origins to the 1860s and 1870s, when Atsidi Sani and other early practitioners adapted metalworking techniques learned from Spanish and Mexican plateros into a distinctly Dine artistic tradition. Through stamp work, repousse, sand casting, and tufa casting, Navajo silversmiths created an iconic design vocabulary — the squash blossom necklace, the concho belt, the ketoh — that remains the foundation of Southwestern jewelry artistry.
From the red mesas of the Navajo Nation to the galleries of Santa Fe, Thomas Begay has spent five decades refining the techniques first brought to the Diné by Atsidi Sani generations ago. His sand-cast and tufa-cast creations represent a living bridge between ancestral metalworking traditions and contemporary artistic expression, each piece carrying the weight of cultural memory forged in sterling silver.
Provenance
Offered by The Humiovi — family-owned in Sedona, Arizona, since 1972. Every piece in our gallery has a known origin and a verified maker.
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One of a Kind
The only one of its kind
WARNING: This product can expose you to lead and cadmium, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and reproductive harm. For more information go to P65Warnings.ca.gov.
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Add signature gift wrapping, a handwritten note, or a discreet gift receipt — and schedule delivery for the day you choose. Every piece arrives with its Certificate of Authenticity.
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Arrives Thu, Sep 3 – Thu, Sep 10
Guaranteed Authentic
Indian Arts and Crafts Act Compliant
Every piece is accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity, documenting its provenance and recorded below for Butterfly - Sterling Silver Opal Necklace - 18 #023.
Authenticity Guarantee
Discover this exceptional Native American Necklace, handcrafted by Navajo (Diné) artisans, meticulously crafted in Sterling Silver. This remarkable piece showcases genuine Opal. The Opal featured in this piece carries a rich heritage — While Australian opals are world-renowned, Native American artists often use opals from Nevada and Mexico. The stone's play of color, caused by light diffracting through silica spheres, creates mesmerizing rainbow effects. Available in size 18. The Navajo Nation spans 27,000 square miles across Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah, making it the largest Native American reservation. Navajo silversmiths learned their craft in the 1860s and developed iconic styles including squash blossom necklaces and concho belts. This piece bears the signature of artist Eugene Chee, a mark of authenticity and personal craftsmanship. Every piece at Humiovi is one-of-a-kind — once sold, it can never be replicated. Ships from our gallery in Sedona, Arizona.
SKU: 4389998
Provenance
Australia
Characteristics
Opal brings shifting fire to contemporary Native American jewelry — flashes of green, blue, and red that move across the stone as it turns. Whether luminous lab-created opal or natural stone, its play of color pairs beautifully with sterling silver and precise inlay, animating a design with light that never sits still.
Heritage
The largest Native nation in the United States and the founders of Southwestern silversmithing — bold silver and turquoise from Diné Bikéyah.
Art Traditions
For the Diné, silver and turquoise are far more than ornament. Turquoise — dootłʼizhii — is a protective and sacred stone woven through Navajo ceremony, song, and the creation narratives of the Holy People. It is associated with sky, water, and blessing; to wear it is to carry a piece of the living landscape and the harmony, or hózhó, that Diné life seeks to maintain. Jewelry also functions as portable wealth and as a record of family. Pieces are pawned and redeemed, inherited, and worn at ceremonies, dances, weddings, and gatherings as expressions of status, identity, and belonging. A great deal of the finest Navajo work was never made for sale at all — it was made to be worn by the maker's own family, and "old pawn" that was never reclaimed is prized today precisely because it was made to Native standards rather than for the tourist trade. The craft is typically learned within families and at the bench, passed from one generation to the next. To buy Navajo jewelry is to participate in a living economy that has sustained Diné households for a century and a half. Humiovi presents Navajo work with respect for this depth of meaning, honoring the artisans and the cultural continuity their work represents rather than reducing it to decoration. Certain pieces carry particular weight within a family. A squash blossom necklace or a fine concho belt is often a household's signal heirloom, worn at ceremonies, weddings, and major life events and handed down deliberately from one generation to the next. To receive or inherit such a piece is to receive a measure of the family's history along with the silver. This is part of why the very best Navajo work has always been made first for the maker's own people, to Diné standards rather than to the expectations of the tourist trade — and why a piece made in that spirit, even when it eventually reaches the market, carries an integrity that mass production cannot imitate.
Cared for thoughtfully, a handcrafted piece is meant to last generations. A few essentials for this one:
Opal
Delicate and water-sensitive — protect it from knocks, sudden temperature changes, and prolonged moisture.
Sterling silver
Buff with a soft polishing cloth — leaving intentional oxidation intact — and store airtight to slow tarnish.
Last on, first off
Put your piece on after fragrance, lotion, and hairspray — and take it off before water, sleep, and sport.
Store with care
Keep each piece in its own soft pouch, away from direct sun and damp, so softer stones never meet harder ones.
Estimated delivery: Thu, Sep 3 – Thu, Sep 10
Complimentary US shipping on all jewelry
Order by 2pm MST for same-day processing
Certificate of Authenticity
Every purchase includes a Certificate of Authenticity documenting the artist, tribal affiliation, and materials used in your piece.
Returns & Exchanges
Return within 30 days of delivery. Exchanges for an item of equal or greater value carry no restocking fee; refund returns are subject to a 20% restocking fee, with return shipping paid by you. Items must be in new, unworn, and unused condition with all original packaging — your Certificate of Authenticity is yours to keep. Custom and personalized pieces are not eligible.
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This item is guaranteed authentic, handcrafted by a member of a federally recognized Native American tribe, in full compliance with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (25 U.S.C. § 305 et seq.).
