Dearest Friends,
The videos walking you through Turquoise & Tufa's Native American jewelry catalog are back for 2026.
Join me again for a casual series from the comfort of my little living room where we will explore the catalog jewelry page by page. I'm hoping these videos give you a better sense of each piece's scale, movement, and presence than photographs alone can capture.
Along the way, I'll share a little more about some of the artists, the jewelry, and, when I know it, the history or provenance of a piece. As always, there are stories that simply don't fit within the pages of a catalog, and this is where I get to share them with you.
You'll also see a few special pieces that didn't make it into the catalog due to space constraints.
Thanks so much for watching. I hope you enjoy.
Part 1: Cover - Page 5 The cover is introducing some of the catalog's themes - a conversation across time and looking deeper for stories and connection. That's why I placed an early copper cuff, a piece that reminds us of where Native Southwestern jewelry began, next to a significant pair of innovative Charles Loloma earrings.
We'll also see a pair of just-made Morris Muskett earrings that take us back to an earlier time along with contemporary pieces by Raymond Sequaptewa, Orville Tsinnie, Maria Samora, Yazzie Johnson & Gail Bird, Patty Fawn, Larry Golsh, and Charlene Reano. We'll see some award-winning vintage extra-fine heishi by Juan Rosetta along with a bracelet by Frank Patania Jr., which opens another thread running through this year's catalog - the artistic dialogue between Native and non-Native jewelers in the American Southwest.
Part 2: Pages 6-13 We'll start with two pages of striking jewelry inspired by the living world. We have vintage Navajo and Zuni renditions as well as a breathtaking Liz Wallace butterfly and Frank Patania Sr. butterflies.
On the next page you'll find jewelry united by design language - circles and dots or raindrops. There, you'll find L. Eugene Nelson, Yazzie Johnson & Gail Bird, Jolene Eustace and one more Frank Patania Sr.
Page 8 displays elegant contemporary designs from Joseph Coriz, Yazzie Johnson & Gail Bird and Joe and Terry Reano while page 7 celebrates jewelry from Benny Aguilar, Tony Aguilar Family and Morris Muskett.
Page 11 is all about surface design from an old copper cuff to a contemporary Norbert Peshlakai with complex stampwork. You'll also find work by Cody Sanderson and Charlie Bird.
Pages 12 and 13 celebrate stars whether it be actual star elements in the design or jewelry simply so good you feel like a star. We'll see an award winning necklace by Richard Aguilar, and jewelry by Jim Harrison and Cody Sanderson in dialogue with an early Navajo manta pin, old button earrings and old Zuni dangle earrings.
Part 3: Pages 14-19 You'll discover fine jewelry of gold and silver by Arland Ben, Jan Loco, Jolene Eustace, Charles Loloma, Robin Waynee, and Richard Chavez. Then, we'll move to a stunning necklace by either Tony Aguilar Sr. or his son Wayne Aguilar. (I'll tell you why I didn't make a specific attribution). Then, we'll see some likely Thunderbird Shop earrings, some Lavina Tsikewa earrings, a Phil Poseyesva bracelet and a bracelet by another non-Native jeweler Alberto Contreras.
We'll move to a page all about jewelry that uses strong lines to make design statements. You'll find work by Kee Yazzie, Johnny Mike Begay, Alvin Yellowhorse, and Cody Sanderson. We'll end this video with an almost indescribable necklace and pendant by Jake and Irene Livingston displayed with an adorable fish pin/pendant from the private collection of Martha Hopkins Struever.
Part 4: Pages 20-25 These pages should wow you. You'll see an incredible vintage Zuni inlay necklace paired with some contemporary Jake and Irene Livingston earrings, a modernist Frank Patania Sr. ring paired with an old Navajo naja necklace and some killer vintage Zuni earrings said to be from Mabel Dodge Lujan's family. Be sure and pay attention in this video because I'll introduce you to some of the catalog "rejects" that are available to you first only here in this video.
A coral Jake and Irene Livingston necklace gets its own page, but it pairs beautifully with a Mike Bird Romero pin/pendant, some Tony Aguilar Sr. earrings, an Alberto Contreras bracelet and a vintage Navajo cuff.
Page 24 is about thunderbirds, and big brooches talking to a contemporary tufa cast bracelet by Cordell Pajarito, and Page 25 is about corn and family whether it be another drop dead gorgeous Tony Aguilar family necklace or a pair of Lovato family corn rings.
Part 5: Pages 26-31 We'll start with a page heavy in provenance info. - I'll introduce you to William Haskell Simpson from the Santa Fe Railway, and you'll also see some curio trade jewelry that was born from the tourists who came to the Southwest on that same railroad line. We'll move to some vintage earrings and a Tony Aguilar Sr. necklace before we switch back to more vintage jewelry including pieces previously unoffered from Martha Struever's gallery holdings and other pieces from her private collection.
Before we move to pages 30-31, I'll show you some earrings from William Haskell Simpson's collection that aren't available anywhere besides this video.
We'll end with some amazing purple spiny jewelry by Orville Tsinnie, some wonderful Navajo pearls, an Anthony Lovato horse pin/pendant, a pair of Sylvia Begay Radcliffe earrings from Martha Struever's private collection and finally, the only non-jewelry piece from the entire catalog - an impressive painting by Navajo artist Clifford Beck Jr. that belonged to both my mom and Martha Struever. It's a special note to end on.
Thanks so much for watching!
*Please note: Make sure you're watching in high definition: after you click the link and begin watching the video, click the round gear symbol on the bottom right of the video player screen. Then select quality and go up to 1080p. This way, you'll see the videos as clearly as possible.