posted on November 25, 2002 05:54:03 AM new
one seller listed pages and pages of american indian jewelry as pawn shops and estate items,but they look new not only in condition,style,design but material.
eg.sterling silver is recent made jewelry,stablised turquoise is recent years phenomena.
from what i know,pawn shop american indian jewelry is often old,worn and dirty,of course there are exceptions.
[ edited by stopwhining on Nov 25, 2002 05:54 AM ]
posted on November 25, 2002 08:54:14 AM new
I think I know what auctions you mean and the seller states that the items are from a private estate collection and that some are from pawn.
They have beautiful pictures and many of the pieces are from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. They state the time period in each ad.
Navajo silver has been around since about the 1850's. Most of this seller's jewelry are unique vintage pieces so I don't see any problem with this.
As far as pawn jewelry being old, worn and dirty? Many pawn shops obtain some of the most sought after jewelry ever and most of that is in excellent condition.
posted on November 25, 2002 09:03:33 AM new
i know some dealers who travelled miles and miles into indian reservations to round up the pieces from pawn shops inside the reservation or close to reservations.
the ones this seller are selling are more commerical appealing to tourists not indians.
stabilised turquoise is shunned by indians and not used until commercial production began,same with sterling silver,nice but not used back in the old days.
may be the answer lies in the pawn shops,pawn shops for the non indians and estate of past shopowners who cant sell these commerical goods.
it is more enticing to say estate than to say i closed my shop and i am liquidating my stock.
