Richard Singer' turquoise and coral chipped-inlay "peyote bird/water bird" watchband (w/watch). SOLD! #2229a

SOLD!  This bird symbol was initially called a "water bird," and it originated from plains tribes.  It's older than dirt.  The water bird, a symbol of rain, rivers, seasons, visions and wisdom, became a prominent fixture in peyote meetings of the Native American Indian Church during the early 1900's. So much so, that it became more popularly known as a "peyote bird."  Legendary Navajo jewelry designer and artist Tommy Singer, R.I.P., is chiefly credited with starting "chipped inlay" jewelry during the 1960's.  The art required creating artful channels in the Sterling and filling those channels with tiny, smoothed-over chips of turquoise and coral.  The peyote bird design became a favorite of Tommy's--as it lent itself to creating colorful, yet spiritually significant designs.  Spirituality was important to Tommy because his father—Tsinnigine Hathali—was a Navajo medicine man (and silversmith).  In 1989 Richard Singer began following his father's and his grandfather's chosen profession—establishing his own jewelry-making business.  And like them, his work is very precise.  The Drifter has never met Richard, but passed by his abode many times on the way to and from visiting Tommy prior to his passing to the other side.  The watchband here is pure Singer pedigree.  We snared it about 15-years ago.  The total inside circumference, including the 1 and 1/8th-inch gap, is 7-inches.  Thus the wearer needs a total wrist circumference (measured around the wrist bone) of 6 and 7/8th's to 7 and 1/8th-inches.  NO MORE OR NO LESS.  Chipped inlay can pop out if the arc of the cuff is altered by bending.  It is slightly over 1.5-inches wide.  Weight is 80-grams, or 2.82-ounces.  Hallmarked "R. Singer" in cursive with a feather floating over "Singer."  Granted, nearly everybody uses their smartphone as a watch now, but don this trophy piece and you won't care about the time (but we'll put a new battery in anyway!).  Complimentary shipping within the U.S.