Tommy Lowe dead-pawn Navajo cluster cuff with real (not compressed block!) Kingman turquoise. #1929

Tommy Lowe is a well-known Navajo cluster artisan from the Arizona side of the Navajo Rez.  We take great pride in offering pieces like this.  Honesty, authenticity and long-term value come together here.  We did a cursory Google search of "Tommy Lowe cluster cuffs," quickly finding multiple Tommy Lowe pieces wrongly described as "vintage."  No surprise.  Because older pieces are oft more sought-after, apparently "vintage" is becoming the new catch-word sales pitch by non-Native sellers for Native jewelry.  So, we called the prestigious repository of top-tier Native jewelry—the Heard Museum—to get an expert opinion of the defining age of "vintage" Native American jewelry.  "Made in the '60's or before," was the answer.  We use 50 years as a rule of thumb, but here's the rub: Tommy Lowe is only 62 years old, AND, by his own account he didn't make his first piece of jewelry until 1995, after leaving his job as production superintendent at a lumber mill (see gallupsun.com, June 21, 2019, i.e. "Master silversmith Tommy Lowe creates cluster jewelry").  Let's be clear—Mr. Lowe, or other Native artisans, are NOT at fault here. Instead, it is either very, very uneducated sellers, or more likely, unscrupulous dealers trying to make an extra buck off the backs of hard-working artisans.  We suspect the latter.  Frankly, we are dismayed at so much misrepresentation on the internet concerning Native American jewelry. This willingness of some modern-day internet dealers to misrepresent Native American jewelry ultimately breeds mistrust by depriving customers from getting that for which they bargain.   Keep that in mind before shelling-out your hard-earned bucks!   Anyway, this is a great cuff.  All those Kingman stones are the real deal, not compressed block stuff.  They are cut deep—not thin and shallow.  Total inside circumference—INCLUDING the 'gap'—is 6 and 5/8th's-inches.  The wearer's total wrist circumference, measured around the wrist bone, should be 6.5-inches to 6.75-inches—no more; no less.  Don't buy it to bend—Please.  Weight is 75-grams, or 2.65-ounces.  Hallmarked "T. Lowe."  It still has inventory numbers used by the old and respected trading post from whence it was acquired—out of their vault of long-expired (dead) pawn.  Shipping is complimentary via USPS tracked Priority box.