Turquoise jewelry is beautiful and very versatile. I work with a company called Yellowhair Buckles. The company is native american owned. The president is a young man named Loren Yellowhair. He is the son of Famous Navajo artist Robert Yellowhair. It is there that I obtained some knowledge about turquoise and native american jewelry. Turquoise is a main component in the buckles produced at Yellowhair. To view more of there work you can visit them at www.yellowhairbuckles.com. You can also visit them and see newstyles at www.instagram.com/yellowhair_buckles

It is there that I purchase turquoise that doesn’t measure up to the quality they use. My youngest daughter has an eye for designing her own unique pieces. Now on to Maren.

Thanks dad!

I have read a lot about turquoise. Not only is it beautiful, it is also rumored to have healing energies. But that is for a whole other blog post. For now I am going to stick with what I know, designing turquoise jewelry. The piece I am going to show is simple yet elegant and classy.

Time to gather supplies.

This project starts out with a small glass hardened bottle with a cork stopper. A simple enough step. You need to make sure the bottle and cork are clean and dust free. You don’t want the cork to become dislodged and spill out its contents.

Time to procure suitable turquoise or whichever stones you choose to use. You can also mix different pieces together to give your piece a unique look. Right now the price for turquoise is really high. Just a side note for those that aren’t aware.

Most of the turquoise mined in the United States is a byproduct of copper mining. Once turquoise is encountered in the mining process. Only then is the quantity and quality of the material is assessed. If the value of the turquoise is worth disrupting a billion dollar mining operation, then it will be mined. The mining could be done by copper company employees, but the job often goes to outside miners who come to the mine at a moment’s notice, quickly recover the turquoise, and get out of the way! Right now they are concentrating on the copper.

Once suitable turquoise is found. The most difficult part in the process of creating this piece is cutting the turquoise in to small enough pieces to fill the bottle. Just picture the game tetris but more difficult. A good pair of heavy duty pliers will do the trick. Just be for warned put a towel over you piece as you crush it or you will have pieces flying all over the place. You also can use a hammer with a hard surface. Don’t forget the towel ! Just make sure your surface can’t be damaged by the hammer. Good luck this is the messiest part of the whole project.

Anyone for a difficult game of Tetris?

Next you get to play a game of turquoise tetris. Try to layers your pieces in a way to maximize the area inside your bottle. The more unique look of your design will depend on how you layer. Make sure you take your time, because you won’t want to repeat this process.

After you fill your bottle, use some e6000 or adhesive of your choice and place a light bead around the cork. Insert the cork working quickly to get it positioned. Voila you are done and have an adorably unique pendant.