Navajo Sterling Silver Turquoise Concho Belt — Spider Web, DUE Hallmark View Watchlist >
- Winning Bid: $1,375.50
- 62 Bid(s) View Bid History
- High Bidder: VistadeOro
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$12.00
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Lot # JD186
System ID # 27749970
Start Date
End Date
9 Watching
Navajo Sterling Silver Turquoise Concho Belt — Spider Web, DUE Hallmark
The Navajo concho belt represents one of the most enduring and recognized achievements of the Southwestern silversmithing tradition — a form refined over more than a century and the standard against which all belt work is measured. This example, bearing the hallmark "DUE," is a belt of genuine accomplishment: fourteen pieces of heavy-gauge sterling silver executed with the consistency and confidence of a smith who had mastered the form.
Six graduated oval conchos, seven butterfly spacers, and a matching buckle are threaded onto a black leather strap, each piece covered edge to edge in dense hand stampwork. The decorative vocabulary is classical — concentric bands of dashes, open circles, and fan-shell impressions radiating outward from the central bezel to a finely scalloped edge — but the execution elevates it. The depth of stamp is uniform across all fourteen pieces, the rhythm unbroken, the scalloping crisp and even. This is not the work of a craftsman still finding his footing.
The turquoise selected for this belt reflects an equally discerning eye for stone. Each cabochon presents a vivid blue-green ground threaded with a fine black spider-web matrix — iron pyrite inclusions forming crisp, well-defined cells rather than the random veining of lesser material. The color holds consistent across all fourteen stones, with the subtle variation in hue from piece to piece that is the reliable signature of natural, unenhanced turquoise selected from a single lot. The visual profile — the depth of the blue-green, the clean black of the matrix, the hardness evident in the high polish — is most consistent with high-grade Kingman spider-web turquoise, though comparable material was produced at Nevada's Number 8 deposit during the same period. What the stones confirm without qualification is that they are genuine, of considerable quality, and chosen with care.
CONDITION
Good, with no noted condition issues. The silver has developed a desirable natural patina consistent with age and honest use; tarnish pools in the recessed stampwork as expected and is easily addressed should the buyer choose to polish. All stones are secure in their bezels with no visible chips or cracks. The leather belt is supple. Polishing is left to the buyer.
SPECIFICATIONS
| Hallmark | "DUE" stamped on reverse of all pieces |
| Attribution | Unconfirmed — likely Navajo, circa fourth quarter 20th century |
| Metal | Sterling silver, tested |
| Stone | Natural turquoise, spider-web matrix, bezel set |
| Oval conchos | 6 pieces — 2.08" × 3.08" — cabochon 10.19 mm × 23.86 mm |
| Butterfly spacers | 7 pieces — 2.2" × .85" — cabochon 11.5 mm diameter |
| Buckle | 2.25" × 3.10" — (2) cabochons, each 14.66 mm × 6.14 mm |
| Silver weight (without belt) | 243.1 grams |
| Belt material | Black leather with suede backing, .60" wide |
| Belt length | 43.5" — fits waist 38" to 41" Easily made smaller with additional holes. |
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Customer Guarantee
At Mesilla Valley Estate Sales, we take pride in the authenticity and quality of each item we offer. Here's our commitment to you:
- Authenticity Assurance: We guarantee this item to be authentic, handpicked from pre-owned estate collections.
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Please Note:
- Diamond and gemstone weights, colors, and clarity grades are approximate and determined while mounted.
- Treatment of colored stones, pearls, and other gemstones to enhance their appearance is common; these treatments may or may not be noted.
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