Jewelry

JANE DOE'S RINGs



JOHN DOE'S RING

 

Indian jewelry with leafs and flowers were popular in the 70's and the black onyx or jet ring with what looks to me like inlaid turquoise could be Zuni. The Acoma Pueblo is right by Grants, New Mexico and I was thinking perhaps they were souvenirs?

 

Janes 3rd ring

 

Jocks Watch

and a pic of a Lindy Star Stone

 

The third ring with the blue stones appears to be costume jewelry as the finish appears to be flaking off the metal from what I can see. Maybe its dirt but I would think they would have wiped it off. The stones appear to be chalcedony or maybe blue moonstone and probably simulants.

 

Was anyone ever able to get information on the markings inside the Indian jewelry? The artist usually stamps their signature mark inside. Would be able pinpoint where the jewelry was possibly sold.

 

I dont think they ever made that public, at least I dont know I have never seen that info anywhere.

 

I have some Native American jewelry that has no stamp inside it, so it is possible that no signature was ever put on it.

 

that makes sense...i used to be really into it in the 70s & know that the only ones with stamps generally either were Mexican made or mass produced. none of my 'authentic' native jewellery ever had stamps.

 

There are many publications where one may reference the hallmarks of many native americans. No, not all of the jewelry is marked. There are many who use no hallmark. Those who do sometimes don't see the need to mark all pieces. Not all hallmarks are included in these publications, but are known in the communities the artist is from. There are many mass producers who have product claiming to be "indian made" that looks authentic to the casual buyer but is not. Counterfiet product was a big problem back in the seventies as well. An organization was created in '74 here in Albuquerque called the Indian Arts and Crafts Association to combat it.

 

I found some vintage rings on Ebay that look a lot like Jane's feather ring.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-Sterlin...560?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256f223078

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NATIVE-AMER...891?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a70a5370b

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Nav...184?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3374219d98

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Tur...ndcrafted_Artisan_Jewelry&hash=item2a1bcda272

According to my research, these style of rings are common in both Mexican and Southwestern U.S. Native American cultures.

 

Her third ring looks very crudely made. I don't see stones when I look at it, I see concave spots with color applied inside, like enamel.

The black ring looks like jet or obsidian with either turquoise or australian opal applied in a manner similar to intarsia or pieta dura.

Looking at the two southwestern rings, I feel pretty confident saying that were made by different people. One has a serrated bezel and the other has a flat bezel. One has braiding around the bottom of the bezel, a great way to hide the solder and add a decorative element. The shanks of the rings are completely different, one has three elements and the other is one that splits off into two.

The black ring is more finely crafted. Smooth bezels and inlaid stones take more skill than serrated bezels.

That is my long winded way of saying that if any of the three rings could be traced, I suspect it is the long black one, as it is the most finely crafted.

I wish there were pictures from different angles.

-Necco (can you tell I make jewelry?)

 

This is the closest match to Jane's coral and turquoise ring I've found to date.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/1625812...type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all

 

Eerily similar!

 

Not a friendship ring. This is how they were made back then. The rings were very common back then & pretty cheap.

 

I found another ring that is slightly similar to the one with the Turqoise and Red Coral ring with the feathers here- http://www.horsekeeping.com/jewelry/pawn/cr/rings/CR-ring-LF-coral-turq-ovals-178.htm . I also find that the ring also looks similar to it https://www.etsy.com/listing/177243901/ring-vintage-sterling-silver-turquoise also. Hope this was helpful

 

Hey all,

I have basically located John Does ring.

To me, it looks like a star ruby ring. They mostly come in red and blue. I dont know anything at all about precious stones, but it seems that the brown is rare, because i'm having a hard time finding that color online.

From what I'm seeing, the prices of these genuine rings are anywhere from 200 to 1500 dollars.

If John Does ring is a natural star sapphire/ruby, which I believe it is (because why engrave a cheap ring), what was he doing with it. If he was a teacher he surely couldn't afford it unless some bought it for him, OR it was handed down to him by family (maybe his grandfathers) OR he stole it.

Links to the ring:

http://www.starruby.in/store/custom-jewelry-solutions

The brown one is at the bottom.

 

Wondering if it could have been a class ring. As I was searching missing persons a girl had a ring with her school initials engraved. It got me thinking about his ring. I looked up schools in Canada with JPF initials but found nothing. I did find a Japanese charter school that takes foreign exchange students from all over the world since 1972. It is located in the UK and they use the JPF initials for the school. Here is the link. Maybe he attended h.s. there? http://www.jpf.org.uk

 

I was talking with my grandma and she said she owns a ring that she got from Minnesota that looks just like Jane Does 3rd, I’ll see if I can get a photo of it.