Heavy Navajo Coin Silver Repousse Bracelet by Perry Shorty

You can't really overemphasize the significance of Navajo jeweler Perry Shorty. While there are other jewelers working in a revival style, few are Perry's equal. His jewelry takes us all the way back to the classic Navajo and Pueblo pieces of the late 19th and early 20th Century. 

Perry Shorty is renowned for his coin silver jewelry, like this bracelet. It's an old and laborious technique in which silver coins are actually melted down to be formed into jewelry. Perry doesn't use just any silver coin either. He's selective about the specific coins he chooses for his jewelry.

One time, for a group of collectors, Perry was going to demonstrate the meticulous process of creating old-style coin silver jewelry. We'd provided Perry with a thick plastic table on which to work. Big mistake! In the midst of Perry melting the coins, we all began to smell the overpowering stench of toxic plastic. The process required such intense heat that a section of the plastic table had melted. Perry Shorty, still calm and composed, laughed at the room full of 25 or so collectors gasping, coughing and running outside to breathe fresh air. The incident only emphasized it takes an expert to work with coin silver. 

This fantastic Perry Shorty coin silver bracelet was made by the same process minus the doomed plastic table. It's simple and elegant yet deceptively complex in the technique and precision it required. Notice teeny marks in the center repousse segment. They're like finger prints because every single piece that Perry makes is one of a kind. Every tiny stamp, every repousse section, every bit of file work is meticulously crafted by hand. 

This is a piece of Navajo jewelry you'll cherish as long as you live! It goes with everything and feels exceptional on. You can stack it, wear it alone, dress it up, dress it down. It has the soul of something very, very special. 

Perry Shorty's coin silver repousse bracelet measures 5 1/2" inside plus a gap of 1" for a total of 6 1/2". The width is  1". It's signed on the reverse "Perry Shorty" and "Coin Silver." This one is a rare piece of Perry's and originally collected circa 2011. It's lived with a single owner since that time.

Don't forget to watch it appear in this video.