Vintage Turquoise ShadowBox Bracelet Les Baker Shop

This is a really pretty example of a vintage turquoise shadowbox row bracelet that came out of the Les Baker shop in Albuquerque during the 1970's.

In the heavy silver bracelet are 7 natural turquoise stones set with a simple bezel in their organic shape. They've changed color over time so that some are green and others are blue.

This piece is refreshingly different from many of those that came from Les Baker's shop. Les Baker had an affinity for the silver flowers, leaves and scroll work that you often find on jewelry from the period, so many of his shop pieces are decorated with that theme.

In contrast, this bracelet is nice and simple - just turquoise and silver doing what they do best.

Interestingly, in the 1970's during the Indian jewelry boom, shops most often used light weight silver to save on costs while they churned out piece after piece to keep up with the demand. It's said that in contrast, Les Baker committed to using heavier silver and good stones just like what you see with this particular bracelet. 

Les Baker employed about 50 Native American silversmiths during the height of his shop. Some became well known while others unfortunately fell into obscurity.

This bracelet is signed only with LB and a Thunderbird for the shop hallmark, so we don't know exactly which Native silversmith created this beauty.

From a private collection, the bracelet measures 5" inside plus 1 3/8" opening and a 3/16" depth. The width is 11/16".

It's a nice bracelet from a time in Native American jewelry meant for the history books.