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.
Zuni Pueblo, New Mexico has produced some of the most technically demanding stonework in the history of world jewelry. Needlepoint — the art of cutting and setting long, thin, pointed turquoise stones — and its companion technique petit point require lapidary precision measured in fractions of a millimeter, passed through families like the Dishta, Quam, and Leekya across multiple generations.
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.
Our authenticity guarantee
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.
Low Stock — Only 3 left
Make it a gift
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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Insured in transit · Discreetly packaged
30-Day Returns · Free ExchangesRefund returns: 20% restocking fee and customer-paid return shipping. Exchanges for an item of equal or greater value carry no restocking fee.
Arrives Wed, Sep 16 – Tue, Sep 22
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 Sterling Silver Opal & Mother of Pearl Ring #462.
Authenticity Guarantee
Discover this exceptional Native American Ring, handcrafted by Zuni Pueblo artisans, meticulously crafted in Sterling Silver. This remarkable piece showcases genuine Opal and Mother of Pearl. 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. Complementing the design, the Mother of Pearl adds its own story — The iridescent inner lining of mollusk shells, sourced from oceans worldwide. Native American artists, particularly from Zuni Pueblo, have long incorporated this luminous material into intricate inlay designs. Nestled in the high desert of western New Mexico, Zuni Pueblo has been home to master lapidaries for generations. Zuni artists are world-renowned for their intricate inlay work, petit point, and needlepoint techniques using turquoise, coral, and shell. Every piece at Humiovi is one-of-a-kind — once sold, it can never be replicated. Ships from our gallery in Sedona, Arizona.
SKU: 1954905
Provenance
Tropical seas
Characteristics
Mother of pearl is the iridescent inner lining of certain sea shells — a soft, shifting white that catches and scatters light. In Zuni and Santo Domingo inlay it supplies the luminous, pale passages that balance the saturated color of turquoise, coral, and jet, the quiet element that makes a mosaic glow.
Heritage
Master lapidaries of the Southwest — Zuni needlepoint, petit point, channel inlay, and carved fetishes where the stone, not the silver, leads.
Art Traditions
Zuni artistry is inseparable from Zuni religious and communal life. The animal forms rendered in fetish carving correspond to the directional guardians and beings of A:shiwi cosmology — the six directions, each with its color and its protector — and fetishes hold a place in Zuni spiritual practice that long predates their making for sale. The pieces offered to the public are made with care to honor, rather than expose, what remains sacred. The Zuni have sustained their ceremonial calendar — including the great Shalako observance — through centuries of outside pressure, and adornment plays its part in that ceremonial life. Jewelry-making, meanwhile, became a cornerstone of the pueblo's economy in the twentieth century, and today a large share of Zuni households practice some aspect of the craft. Lapidary skill at Zuni is typically a family inheritance. Households often specialize — one family known for needlepoint, another for inlay, another for fetish carving — with techniques and standards passed from one generation to the next at the workbench. Humiovi honors the spiritual and familial dimension of Zuni work, presenting these pieces as the achievements of named artisans and living lineages, not as anonymous craft. This concentration of skill has made Zuni one of the most artistically productive communities in the Native world, with a depth of specialized knowledge — the cutting of a particular bezel, the carving of a particular fetish form, the fitting of a particular inlay — that is genuinely rare and not easily replaced. When that knowledge passes from a parent to a child at the bench, an entire body of technique and judgment moves with it. To buy authentic Zuni jewelry is, in a direct sense, to support the continuation of that living knowledge and the families who hold it.
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.
Estimated delivery: Wed, Sep 16 – Tue, Sep 22
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.).
