A little gold and silver

[JVA5th]

Was out in the mountains again not thinking I'd find much. Came across a little old school in the middle of nowhere and decided to give that a shot. Was finding mostly change and junk the first hour. After awhile though got a really nice silver ring I imagine is going to clean up nice, as I was getting ready to leave decided to dig one last signal on the way out and sure enough popped out a nice little 14k gold ring. Don't know why it is but those getting ready to leave signals are often good stuff. A few other things came up a obliterated old lipstick, I think a home crude part of a bell, a neat old button, and a piece of cheap jewelry. Finally nice to have something to post after just having no luck for awhile.

 

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[Red-Coat]

Good rings. The Sterling ring is particularly nice aand has cleaned up beautifully.

The gold ring is by Tessler & Weiss of Union, NJ. Founded in 1936 and still in business. Early marks have the ‘TW’ in a lozenge, but the ‘TW in Oval’ mark was first used in 1947 and registered in 1951. I believe it’s still live.

The silver ring is by the Wheeler Manufacturing Company of Lemmon, SD. Founded in 1936 and still in business. That particular mark (shown below) was first used in 1962 and registered in 1964. Again, I believe it’s still live.

Wheeler used local artisans for some of their beautiful designs and these pieces often have the designer’s initials on them alongside the Wheeler mark.

 

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[Tpmetal]

Congrats! With all the cool things I have found, I still have not found a gold ring along with many other things. Just an example of comparing yourself to others can often just set you up for failure...you do you as it seems to work well from your posts I have seen.

 

[JVA5th]

Good rings. The Sterling ring is particularly nice aand has cleaned up beautifully.

The gold ring is by Tessler & Weiss of Union, NJ. Founded in 1936 and still in business. Early marks have the ‘TW’ in a lozenge, but the ‘TW in Oval’ mark was first used in 1947 and registered in 1951. I believe it’s still live.

The silver ring is by the Wheeler Manufacturing Company of Lemmon, SD. Founded in 1936 and still in business. That particular mark (shown below) was first used in 1962 and registered in 1964. Again, I believe it’s still live.

View attachment 1984741

Wheeler used local artisans for some of their beautiful designs and these pieces often have the designer’s initials on them alongside the Wheeler mark.

Thank you for all the info Red-Coat I always appreciate the effort you put in to giving lots of info on finds.

 

[oldmxrat]

Nice rings, good for you and congrats!

 

[JVA5th]

Good rings. The Sterling ring is particularly nice aand has cleaned up beautifully.

The gold ring is by Tessler & Weiss of Union, NJ. Founded in 1936 and still in business. Early marks have the ‘TW’ in a lozenge, but the ‘TW in Oval’ mark was first used in 1947 and registered in 1951. I believe it’s still live.

The silver ring is by the Wheeler Manufacturing Company of Lemmon, SD. Founded in 1936 and still in business. That particular mark (shown below) was first used in 1962 and registered in 1964. Again, I believe it’s still live.

View attachment 1984741

Wheeler used local artisans for some of their beautiful designs and these pieces often have the designer’s initials on them alongside the Wheeler mark.

 

[Red-Coat]

Thank you for all the info Red-Coat I always appreciate the effort you put in to giving lots of info on finds.

You're most welcome.

Your follow-up picture (can't seem to add it as a quote, maybe because it has no accompanying text) shows the designer mark on the Wheeler ring. Not exactly local to South Dakota from a Native territory point of view, but a well-regarded Native American designer nevertheless.

It’s by the Hopi artisan Cleve Honyaktewa (b. 1956 - d. 1996). He was the son of Neilson Honyaktewa, one of the first Hopis to study silversmithing under the ‘GI Bill’ with Paul Saufkie and Fred Kabotie. Cleve's teachers were Emery Holmes and Phil Sekaquaptewa. He was active in jewellery making from 1983 until his death in 1996. This is the mark he used: