Jack Adakai Navajo Tufa Cast Silver Gold and Lone Mountain Turquoise Bracelet

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A rare and unique Navajo tufa-cast silver, gold and Lone Mountain spiderweb turquoise bracelet by Jack Adakai, c. 1950’s-60’s

One of the better kept artistic secrets of the 20th century Southwest is the talented Navajo silversmith,

Jack Adakai (active 1950’s to 1981), who is well-known among connoisseurs of fine traditional Navajo jewelry, but is not a household name in the sense of Charles Loloma or Kenneth Begay or his former apprentice and now International jewelry rockstar, McKee Platero. Adakai lived and worked quietly in the pre-social media age in the Gallup area of far western New Mexico near the Arizona border. He worked at various times for the various prominent trading companies in the area; C.G. Wallace, Tobe Turpen, M.L. Woodard and also worked with the

Foutz trading family of Farmington and Shiprock, NM.

Adakai’s work is characterized by its excellent and complete mastery of all traditional Navajo silversmithing techniques, such as tufa-casting, fabrication, stamp, chisel and file work. In addition to his own formidable silversmithing abilities, Adakai was also an excellent teacher and mentor in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s

to his young clan nephew who is the now World-renowned Navajo silversmith, McKee Platero. Jack Adakai is

also the father and teacher of the well-known and well-regarded contemporary Navajo silversmith, Ray Adakai.

This wonderful and special bracelet is a particularly fine example of Jack Adakai’s exalted capabilities as witnessed by the elaborate, artistically and technically superb work and by the unusually fine and rare quality of the materials used to make it. Gold is very seldom found in historic Navajo jewelry of this period and Lone Mountain spiderweb turquoise was always rare and expensive and now is even much more so and the stone in this bracelet is a particularly fine gem-quality example. The silver tufa-casting of the body of the bracelet here is simply superb, conveying the ideal combination of delicacy and strength.

A large square very finely-serrated gold bezel holds the trapezoidally-shaped gem Lone Mountain turquoise stone and is accentuated on both sides by applied gold “raindrops” which have been very finely etched for texture. An applied strip of finely hand-twisted silver wire around the inside center of the silver shanks and some delicate stamp work decoration around the bezel platform and along both edges of the silver shank beautifully complete the job. The bracelet's center panel with an asymmetrically-shaped vivid turquoise stone tightly held in its assymetrical-shaped gold bezel inside its rectangularly-shaped cast-silver surround makes

a particularly stunning visual impression.

It seems to us from all this elaborate finery, that this bracelet was very possibly made on commission as a special piece intended for a particular and very special someone. Possibly renowned Zuni Indian trader, C.G. Wallace ordered it from Adakai for a special client of his or possibly it was one of the other prominent Gallup, NM traders who regularly worked with Adakai, such as Tobe Turpen or M.L. Woodard. The trader would have

most likely provided Adakai with the gold and likely with the gem stone as well.

The somewhat asymmetrically-shaped bracelet measures 1 1/8" in width at its center point, tapers in along

the shank and then nicely and dramatically flares out to 1 1/4" in width at the terminal ends. The inner circumference end-to-end is 5 1/4" and the gap between the terminals is 1" for a total interior circumference

of 6 1/4". The bracelet weighs a very comfortable and easily wearable 61 grams or 2 1/8 ounces and it is in completely excellent original vintage condition with some age -appropriate wear and a nice mellow patina.

The bracelet is properly signed on the interior with Jack Adakai’s customary capital letters initials “J A”.

This bracelet is an extremely attractive and most beautifully-crafted special piece originally made for

a special someone. Perhaps yourself, or one of your loved ones will be the next special someone to have it.

No matter which of you it might be, you will both enjoy having this most precious, rare prize.

Price $3,450

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Lone Mountain Turquoise

This mine once produced a great variety of turquoise, included some of the finest examples of spider web turquoise as well as clear, deep-blue stones. Lone Mountain turquoise has always been noted for holding its color. Among all “classic” Southwestern turquoise, only Lander Blue is more valuable. A rare occurrence has been the “fossil turquoise” found in this mine. The fossil is of a crinoid stem. The Lone Mountain mine consists of a series of haphazard tunnels dug by miners chasing the veins of turquoise. The mine was claimed by Lee Hand in 1920 first as the Blue Jay Mining Lode and later, after seeing that so many mines had been named Blue Jay, Hand changed the mine’s name to Lone Mountain.

In the 1960’s Lone Mountain was converted to a small open pit operations by Menliss Winfield. It continues to be mined in this fashion today. In 1979, I purchased Lone Mountain with the King family of Austin, Texas and Santa Fe, New Mexico. I have had different partners over the years and the property has only been mined 6 over the last 28 years. The reason for this is the expense of mining and the regulations for small mine owners, makes it very difficult to be profitable. But with the value of the classic American turquoise mines being so great, it is feasible for this great mine to once again be of great value.