Silver Turquiose Cuff with no Maker Marks.

[bigcaddy64]

As the year winds to an end, I have sharply curbed my sale going habits in order to spend time with my girlfriend and just enjoy the season.

Due to a last minute call in from her work, I found myself free for the morning so I did some looking on CL and found a great looking sale.

I did great with lots of nice tools but I still hadn't found that one great item. After a bit more digging in an area where nobody else had been allowed to search, I found this cuff. I also found a 2.3 Troy oz bracelet that I'll add to this later.

The cuff looks like it was missing a stone across the top and 1 stone on the side. As I searched eBay for replacement stones, I happened to find similar looking items to what I have. Turns out it's a watch cuff but missing the movement.

Is there any way to ID this thing? Maybe by style or type of turquoise. Is there a way to get an approximate age? I didn't see a single hallmark but I'll check again once it's been cleaned

 

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[DFW_THer]

That would have been some piece back in the day. It's still super sexy to me, and does have a lot of collector value even though it looks torn up and junked by the untrained eye. Identified as "old pawn", probably 80-100 yeas old, just a stab. Sterling silver for sure.

Nicely restored with good color stones? Probably a $150-$250 piece, maybe more.

I'm not an expert on the subject but I have learned a lot about native american pieces in the last few years. Let some others weigh in.

 

[BagLady]

I believe it's Zuni or Navaho. They were common in the 70's and after. The silver should clean up nicely. Missing the watch itself is no big deal. Most of them were sold without the watch to begin with.
Shame your missing a stone. They are valued quite high now. I would expect this piece to bring $300 or more if the coral stone is replaced.
There should be a stamp on it somewhere. Maybe you'll find it after you clean it.
Nice find!

 

[bigcaddy64]

I believe it's Zuni or Navaho. They were common in the 70's and after. The silver should clean up nicely. Missing the watch itself is no big deal. Most of them were sold without the watch to begin with.
Shame your missing a stone. They are valued quite high now. I would expect this piece to bring $300 or more if the coral stone is replaced.
There should be a stamp on it somewhere. Maybe you'll find it after you clean it.
Nice find!

Is there a good place to find some coral to fill out the missing stone? I have some pieces but its in more of a natural state and looks like stubby branch clippings. I've got stone processing tools and can make a cabochon easily but id like to find a similar sized loose stone that i can put in

 

[bigcaddy64]

I have a old Hilton mens automatic and its huge compared to the size of the lug retainer openings. I'm thinking this was for a womans watch.

 

[BagLady]

Is there a good place to find some coral to fill out the missing stone? I have some pieces but its in more of a natural state and looks like stubby branch clippings. I've got stone processing tools and can make a cabochon easily but id like to find a similar sized loose stone that i can put in

Just off the top of my head, I would look at some silversmiths web sites in the New Mexico, Arizona area and contact them to see about buying a stone. Take some measurements of the other stones, and of the vacant area of the watch band.
Also send them the pic's.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

I agree with BagLady, set yourself up for some close pictures of the area of the missing stones with a ruler in 1/16th of an inch increments next to them, and the same of the existing stones. That way a silversmith can really zero in on exactly what you need. A little time expended and you get back a piece you'll be very proud of. Good luck on finding hallmarks!

 

[bigcaddy64]

Thanks for the advice but i've never been one to do things the "easy" way. I've already ordered a piece of coral off ebay and will gather the equipment so i can cut my own stone. I know my dad has the grinder/polisher so i just need some belts of varying grit and dop wax so i can start. Hopefully i can do it around Christmas when i have so time off to fool around in the garage.

 

[jason4kstate]

Its looks like a dead pawn Navajo silver watch bracelet. Pretty nice leaf work around the part that held the watch. The watch was probably lost 20 years ago. I actually like fixing these up myself and picking the watch out.

I wouldn't sweat the missing coral. I've sent a few of my wife's native american jewelry to a Southwest jewelry store and it has never cost over $40-50 to fix. I found a really nice carved turquoise cluster ring a year ago. The stones were one of kind but one of them was missing and broken in half inside of the ring. It cost $25 bucks to replace it and they polished it for free. I think it was sent to New Mexico and took about 2 weeks.

 

[bigcaddy64]

Thank you all for the replies! I contacted a shop in NM and they were more then happy to do the work. I'll send off some pictures to them tonight and see what the estimate will be. I think it might be better for them to do the repairs since I noticed a small crack on one of the leaves that needs to be addressed.

I did some hand polishing on it this afternoon along with the big medical bracelet that I picked up along with it. Both came out looking great. The bracelet is 2.3 Troy ounces of silver

 

[bigcaddy64]

After the cleaning and close inspection, i wasn't able to locate any hallmarks/makers marks. Hopefully ill find a watch for it and get it sold after its repaired.