We live beneath a Buffalo sky, mane made of dawn, a cloud-webbed blue and a gathering storm riding Thunderbird’s wings in his wake. With this extraordinary old-style collar necklace, Wings pays tribute to our beautiful elder brother, to the skies and the water and the wingéd spirits that drive it to the earth. The necklace consists of no fewer than five separate pendants, three of royal lapis and two of natural Fox turquoise, all set into hand-made bezels saw-cut and stamped entirely freehand, and strung on a cascading strand of coordinating gemstone beads of truly phenomenal quality. The focal pendant is formed of a shield cabochon of royal lapis lazuli in a perfect cobalt blue shot through with the stardust shimmer of iron pyrite, set into aa hand-made scalloped bezel edged with twisted silver, the bezel backing extending beyond in a scalloped pattern reminiscent of Buffalo’s mane, each curl stamped with a single sunrise motif to frame the deep blue of the dawn. Flanking the focal are a pair of gorgeous large ovals of natural Fox turquoise, the stones the shade of the western sky at morning, stippled with “clouds” of off-white host-rock and unusually red patches of iron pyrite matrix. Each is set into its own scalloped bezel edged in twisted silver, the saw-cut bezel backing extending into the same scalloped sunrise motif on all sides. Finally, at either end of the string of pendants, two more incredible square cabochons of royal blue lapis lazuli sit on a bed of dried cedar shavings, framed in scalloped bezels edged in twisted silver, the extended backings rounded with freehand cut-work on all four sides, each tab stamped in old-style feather-fan motifs. Each pendant hangs from a hand-cut, flared bail stamped with a single four-directions motif reminiscent of the famed Zia symbol, the spokes extending around a central heart. Every pendant is framed on the bead strand by a pair of outsized spheres of natural lapis lazuli in chrysocolla, with alternating segments of sterling silver doughnut rondels and either iron pyrite (beneath the lapis) or high-grade turquoise rounds (beneath the turquoise), to allow the bails to sit properly. Connecting each pendant are segments of extraordinary ultra-high-grade royal lapis lazuli orbs, polished so perfectly that their surfaces are nearly translucent, alternating with tiny sterling silver doughnut rondels. Moving upward, the beads form gradients of size and color, consisting of more of the royal lapis alternating with iron pyrite and more of the turquoise (likely Persian, based on color, pattern, and value), with the silver rondels serving as spacers; The whole strand is anchored at either end by sterling silver round beads. The buffalo pendant with bail is 2-3/4″ long; without, 2-1/4″ long by 1-5/8″ across at the widest point; all five bails are 3/4″ long by 5/8″ across at the widest point; the lapis shield cabochon is 1-5/8″ long by 1-1/8″ across at the widest point; the turquoise pendants with bails are 2-3/8″ long; without bails, 1/3/4″ long by 1-5/8″ across at the widest point; cabochons are 1-1/4″ long by 7/8″ across at the widest point; square lapis pendants with bails are 2-1/8″ long; without bails, 1-9/16″ long by 1/3/4″ across; square cabochons are 15/16″ square; bead strand is 26″ long excluding findings, but hangs shorter because of the horizontal space taken up by the pendant arrangement (all dimensions approximate). Other views, including close-ups of each pendant, are shown below.
Pendants: Sterling silver; royal lapis lazuli; natural Fox turquoise; dried cedar shavings
Strand: Tri-ply foxtail plated with silver; sterling silver findings
Beads: High-grade old lapis lazuli in chrysocolla; ultra-high-grade royal lapis lazuli;
high-grade blue turquoise (likely Persian); iron pyrite; sterling silver
$4,000 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Full View 2:
Full View 3:
Central Royal Lapis Buffalo Shield Pendant:
Oval Fox Turquoise Pendant On Wearer’s Left:
Oval Fox Turquoise Pendant On Wearer’s Right:
Square Royal Lapis Pendant On Wearer’s Leftt:
Square Royal Lapis Pendant On Wearer’s Right:
Full View 4:
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2023; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owner.
