This necklace features rare Blue Gem Turquoise and measures 26" long. It's strung with handmade 8mm Sterling Silver beads. The Blue Gem mine, near Battle Mountain, Nevada, shut down in the 70s. Considered some of the finest Turquoise ever mined, it has an intense blue color and a hardness that did not require stabilization.

The development of the squash blossom motif was influenced by Spanish and Mexican explorers who wore silver pomegranate charms that dangled from silver chains on their garments. The Navajos adapted this component and, together with silver beads and a 'Naja' pendant, used them to create the original squash blossom necklaces. The Naja is a heavy cast piece of a single or double crescent. The Naja, like the cross, swastika, or ankh is an ancient symbol that crops up, independent of time or culture, in parts of the world as divergent as ancient Crete, Rome, Africa, and Moorish Spain. Najas embellished the bridles of the Conquistadors who thought they could ward off the evil eye.

Price: $1,500.00