Jewelry Rings

Rings are ornaments worn around any finger. One may represent one’s personal taste of jewelry or cultural beliefs. A ring can be made out of a variety of metals, leathers, or plastic. Some less expensive metals may leave a green mark on the finger. Metals such as steel, silver, gold, and platinum usually won’t leave a green mark unless dirty or tarnished (silver). A ring can also display personal taste, cultural values, morals, ideas, or wealth.

Southwest Native American Rings

Native American rings are excellent alternatives for generally less expensive Native Americvan jewelry simply because of the silver/gold content and smaller stones used. Of course other factors such as rarity and who made the piece may increase or decrease the value. Native American rings can have certain handmade features such as intricate stamp work and overlay patterns that accent certain stones, shells, and coral. By far the most common stone used is turquoise.

Traditionally, Southwest Native American rings had stones that were plain bezel set. Plain bezel set means that a solid, very small piece of metal (ideally silver or gold) holds the stone on to the ring. Shark-tooth or sharp toothed bezel set refers to the bezel as being spikes that hold down the stone. Shark toothed bezel is used more in Southwest Native American rings today.