Vintage Navajo Earrings of Green Gaspeite and Silver Hearts

These sweet vintage Navajo heart earrings are handmade of silver and set with vibrant green Gaspeite stones. 

While we're most used to seeing turquoise in Navajo jewelry, Gaspeite is a gemstone used more recently in Southwestern Native American jewelry. 

Interestingly, Gaspeite was first discovered in 1966 at the Gaspe Peninsula in Quebec, Canada and then was described in American Mineralogist the same year. By the 1970's, it began to appear in Southwestern Native American jewelry, but it wasn't seen much outside of that context until it was featured at the 1994 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. 

Most Gaspeite comes from Western Australia, but you can find a little bit elsewhere including right here in New Mexico. That's precisely why you'll sometimes see the stone in Navajo and Pueblo jewelry. 

Gaspeite is said to help provide emotional healing, so it's fitting that these heart earrings are made of the stone. Our hearts can all use a little bit of extra healing. 

They're a vintage pair and signed "N" on the back with "sterling" so they're likely the work of Gene Nataan. Each earthy earring measures 1" x 1" and is a post for pierced ears.