Vintage Sand Cast Navajo Ring of Silver and Turquoise

Sometimes the eye-catching open work of a nice handmade Navajo sand cast piece is exactly the special touch you need. For more of a statement, you can wear multiple types of silver sand cast jewelry at once - perhaps a ring, a bracelet, and a naja necklace all together.

This vintage silver sand cast ring set with turquoise is an old trading post design updated with a silver rope work bezel. It's really pretty on, and the weight is substantial which is different from many you'll find today. If you look at each side of the ring, you'll find a wide heart shape. 

To create this ring, the Navajo maker used a traditional process where they took sandstone, shaped it into a block with a slice through the middle of the block and then hand carved this gracefully curving shape in the sandstone block or mold. When carved into the sand stone, the design is flat - it will be shaped into a ring later. Once the design is created, melted silver is poured into the sand stone "mold". When  the silver hardens into this pretty design, it's removed from the mold, excess silver is filed from the edges, and then the piece is shaped into a ring, polished up and set it with the turquoise stone. You can read more about the process here.

Even though this ring makes a beautiful statement with a 1 1/8" face, it's for a small size 5 finger. If you need it slightly larger, it can be sized up for a small fee.

Ring is unsigned. From a private Seattle collection.