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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Insured in transit · Discreetly packaged
30-Day Returns · Free ExchangesRefunds to your original payment method: 20% restocking fee and customer-paid return shipping. Store credit carries no restocking fee. Original shipping is not refundable. Exchanges for an item of equal or greater value carry no restocking fee.
Guaranteed Authentic
Indian Arts and Crafts Act Compliant
This piece is accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity, documenting its provenance and recorded below for Sterling Silver Conch Shell Ring #269.
Authenticity Guarantee
This item is guaranteed authentic, handcrafted by Santo Domingo artisans, in full compliance with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 (25 U.S.C. § 305 et seq.).
Discover this exceptional Native American Ring, handcrafted by Santo Domingo (Kewa) Pueblo artisans, meticulously crafted in Sterling Silver. This remarkable piece showcases Conch Shell. Located between Santa Fe and Albuquerque along the Rio Grande, Santo Domingo Pueblo is renowned for heishi bead making, a tradition spanning thousands of years. Their artists are master lapidaries, creating intricate shell and stone jewelry. Ships from our gallery in Sedona, Arizona.
SKU: L399611
Treatment
Not documented
Heritage
The Rio Grande's bead and mosaic masters — Kewa heishi and inlay traditions older than silver itself, hand-rolled from turquoise, shell, and jet.
Art Traditions
For the Kewa, jewelry-making is both a livelihood and an inheritance carried within families across many generations. Children learn to drill, roll, grade, and string beside their elders, and the pueblo's reputation rests on a communal standard of excellence sustained over centuries. Kewa is also one of the most private and traditional of the pueblos, and its people guard their ceremonial life closely even as their jewelry travels the world. Kewa artisans are celebrated, too, for resourcefulness and adaptation — the Depression-era thunderbird necklaces stand as a testament to creativity under hardship, transforming whatever was available into objects of lasting beauty. That ingenuity, married to deep traditional skill, remains a point of pride and a hallmark of the pueblo's art. Kewa makers are a constant, respected presence at the Santa Fe Indian Market and other juried shows, where their strands are sought by collectors worldwide. Humiovi presents Kewa work as the product of this living, family-rooted tradition, honoring the makers and the centuries of skill behind every strand. Because Kewa is among the most private and traditional of the pueblos, much of its inner life is closed to outsiders, but its jewelry has long been the pueblo's open hand to the world — a way of sustaining families and carrying Kewa skill far beyond the Rio Grande. Every strand bought honors both the maker and the community that produced the maker.
Cared for thoughtfully, a handcrafted piece is meant to last generations. A few essentials for this one:
Shell & mother of pearl
Organic and easily scratched — avoid water and chemicals, and store apart from harder pieces.
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.
Complimentary US shipping on all jewelry
Certificate of Authenticity
This piece arrives with a Certificate of Authenticity recording its materials. Where its artist and tribal affiliation are known, the certificate names them too.
Returns & Exchanges
Return within 30 days of delivery. Exchanges for an item of equal or greater value carry no restocking fee; refunds to your original payment method are subject to a 20% restocking fee (store credit carries none), original shipping is not refundable, and return shipping is paid by you. Items must be in new, unworn, and unused condition with all original packaging — a Certificate of Authenticity issued with the piece is yours to keep. Custom and personalized pieces are not eligible.
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The ocean has supplied Native American jewelers with some of their most culturally significant materials. Mediterranean red coral, harvested from depths of 30 to 300 meters in the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas, arrived in the Southwest through Spanish colonial trade routes. Spiny oyster shell from the Sea of Cortez has been traded northward for over a thousand years. Mother of pearl, abalone, and other marine shells complete a palette of organic materials whose cultural importance rivals turquoise itself.
Heishi — hand-ground shell disc beads — represents one of the oldest continuously practiced jewelry-making traditions in North America. Kewa Pueblo (historically known as Santo Domingo Pueblo), situated along the Rio Grande between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, has been the preeminent center of heishi production for over a thousand years. The process of cutting, drilling, stringing, and grinding shell into perfectly uniform beads remains largely unchanged from its ancient form.
Provenance
Offered by The Humiovi — family-owned in Sedona, Arizona, since 1972. Its provenance is recorded on the certificate of authenticity that accompanies it.
Our authenticity guaranteeThis piece is linked in our catalogue to the hallmark reference entry for Raymond Coriz.
