The Enduring Allure of Turquoise

Alvin Yellowhorse a 30-year-old Navajo Jeweler, might have his Yellowhorse Inlay Shop on the reservation, a few dusty miles West of Gallup, but he's on top of the trend. As a teenager he learned the basics of the Silversmith's trade from his father, who sold his jewelry from a table set up alongside Old Route 66 near the New Mexico-Arizona border.

He spent a couple more years learning the techniques of "channel" inlaid jewelry, in which stones are cut to fit precisely into the handmade form of a bracelet, earring, pendant or other piece. "Although I do contemporary designs, they're inspired to some extent by the prehistoric drawings done by my Anasazi ancestors," he explains. "I love the thousands of shades of color you find in turquoise. But I also use other stones, including some imported from Australia and Italy, to build a complex composition of colors and textures."

Smithsonian Auguest 1999 Article: Tantalizing Turquoise by: Joseph A. Harriss