Imitation Native American Jewelry Thoughts of a Navajo Silversmith
Imitation or Fake Native American Jewelry is a problem in the southwest silver jewelry industry. In this video George Francis, an expert Navajo silversmith, give his thoughts on this subject along with some great real examples to illustrate this problem.
What are your thoughts on Imitation Native American jewelry?
“I don’t care for them but they serve a purpose. They serve a niche. When we say ‘imitation’ some people almost look down on that. The price of silver has escalated and has caused a problem for those of us in the business and those that readily afford it. Here are some examples of imitation items. They all look very Southwest. It’s made on nickel. Notice that I say ‘nickel’ and I don’t say nickel silver; there’s no such thing as silver being a part of this other than color.
“As we look we see a lot of costume jewelry being sent into the country. I acquired this piece just for show. It’s supposed to have turquoise but (it’s made of) plastic. The metal that’s being used is nickel. This is being sold as Southwest jewelry.
“Here’s another imitation. I don’t know exactly where it came from. There’s nothing silver about it other than the color. It’s stamped sterling and that will mislead you– it is unscrupulous for people to do this but they do it. This piece here is made out of nickel and nothing else. But it is stamped sterling so it’s misleading, and it has a Southwest motif on it. This piece here is also stamped sterling underneath and it is made completely out of nickel. It has no silver at all other than the color of it.
“Sometimes we find pieces that are called ‘silver plating’. There is no ‘silver plating’ in this… it is a silver tone plating, denoting the color only. For example: gold tone, ‘gold plating’. It’s something you have to be careful of. If it were gold plating we would need to know what karat. In order for it to be authentic gold it needs to be 10 karats or higher, so normally if it’s plated it will denote that. In this case where it’s silver, not silver plating, it’s silver tone plating. People need to be aware of that.
“Inauthentic products are a detriment to everybody because the costs are very low, compared to silver and metal costs, which are very different. Some people want that, and that’s what we’ll give them if they need it.”
– George Francis, Navajo silversmith
From the Library: Tanner, Navajo Silver Craft (1954)
1954 primary source. Anything described as current here describes 1954, not today.
According to Tanner (1954, p. 27), the first attempt to produce machine-made commercial silver came in 1910; it succeeded, others followed, and by 1954 several firms were making jewelry in copy of Navajo styles. [1]
Writing in 1954, Tanner gave buyers one way to tell the two apart:
“Commercial pieces are made of thinner silver; hence the stamped patterns show through on the back side more readily than they do on hand made objects.”
— Tanner (1954), p. 27 [1]
Tanner (1954, p. 27) explained that a commercial master die carried the complete pattern of a piece, such as a bracelet, so a single pull of a lever decorated it, where a hand stamper needed a separate blow for every design element. [1]
Tanner (1954) also described the look of the machine work:
“Most of the designing on commercial jewelry has a “gingerbread” feeling about it.”
— Tanner (1954), p. 27 [1]
By contrast, according to Tanner (1954, p. 27), good Navajo silver used few design elements on a single piece, while a commercial piece often used as many as its size would allow. [1]
Tanner (1954) pointed buyers to what machines could not easily copy:
“Far more difficult to reproduce by machinery are plain surfaces.”
— Tanner (1954), p. 29 [1]
According to Tanner (1954, p. 29), Navajo taste for plain, unstamped silver showed in the popularity of the cast bracelet among the Navajo themselves. [1]
Sources
- Tanner, Clara Lee. “Navajo Silver Craft.” Arizona Highways 30, no. 8 (August 1954): 16–33. Cited by printed page. Statements describe conditions as of 1954.
