Sterling silver tufa cast cuff by award winning silversmith Andrew Redhorse Alvarez. The 1" cuff has a contemporary pattern and a 1/2" x 3/4" Kingman cabochon. The inside of the cuff is 5 1/4" with a 1" gap.
The Kingman Turquoise Mine is one of the oldest producing Turquoise mines in North America. It was discovered by Native Americans over 1000 years ago. Kingman Turquoise is known for its beautiful blue color and the mine produces many variations of blue turquoise.
About the artist
Andrew
Andrew "Redhorse" Alvarez is a multiple award winning Apache artist. Andrew was born in New Mexico 1953 of Apache and Colleville descent and he began making jewelry in 1966. He is a member of the Red Clay Clan. His one of a kind pieces are tufa cast in sterling silver or gold with natural turquoise and precious gemstones.
Andrew has a passion for American turquoise, rare stones such as Lander Blue, Indian Mountain, and Bisbee Blue. His family jokes "he has blue blood running through his veins." He says "Yes ~ Turquoise Blue." When he started collecting as a boy of 12, his mother quipped "You’ve got rocks all right, rocks in your head." She would be amazed at today's value of the turquoise.
Because of his life-long self-education and extensive knowledge of the stone, Andrew does lectures on American turquoise identification and appraisals of American Indian jewelry.
A self-taught jeweler, with some guidance from his uncle Leandro, Andrew has drawn upon his designs from his Mother's Apache ancestry. Apaches are not known for silver work so Andrew had searched for his own style, contemporary, yet traditional flair using silver, gold, diamonds, colored stones and tufa casting. Alvarez has spent years developing his own contemporary Apache style. His one-of-a-kind pieces, set in sterling silver or 14- or 18-carat gold, feature Bisbee turquoise, Indian Mountain turquoise, coral, and other precious gemstones.
His jewelry reflects the natural textures of the tufa stone, a chalk-like stone, which gives it a natural finish. All his work is a vision of his dreams; the next morning he cannot wait to build the next designs. His designs are personal and he wonders who will be the next to wear the next one of a kind piece of jewelry, which is the excitement of his Apache legacy.
