Nuggets of natural and unstabilized Sleeping Beauty Turquoise graduate from 19mm to 10mm into three strands of hand-made shell heishi created at Pueblo Santo Domingo in New Mexico. The necklace is finished with a traditional cotton string 'Pueblo Wrap,' first seen at Santo Domingo in the 1800s. We found this rare necklace on the Zuni Indian reservation where it arrived in trade. Native Americans from Santo Domingo are the premier bead makers of Indian America and love to travel and trade. We know no more of it's history but love to fantasize about who created it and who owned it. The Sleeping Beauty mine in Globe, Arizona closed in September 2012, causing havoc in the Southwest. Only the mine at Kingman, Arizona is still operating and the price of American Turquoise is going up 30% a year. Necklace finishes to 32".
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