Inv# VTSTL1902

Guarantee:  Spiny Oyster Shell & Turquoise Slab earrings with Sterling Silver ear wires; by KEWA [Santo Domingo] Native American jewelry artist Veronica Tortalita ; approx. 2.5” long.

Detailed Description:  Earrings with Sterling Silver ear wires suspending a 2” long trapezoid slab drop consisting of Spiny Oyster Shell & Turquoise; made in 2019 pre-Covid by KEWA [Santo Domingo] Native American jewelry artist Veronica Tortalita.  ‘Spiny Oyster’ is a common name used for this beautiful shell, but it’s a misleading name because it is not shell from an oyster.  Rather, this is the shell of a non-oyster family of ocean bivalve mollusks, whose scientific name is Spondylus.  Depending on the Spondylus species, a ‘Spiny Oyster’ shell can be multi-colored with shades of white, red, orange, purple, and gold.  The most valued shell colors are those with large amounts of red or orange and gold.  As in this Veronica Tortalita earring pair, the white/orange/gold Spiny Oyster shell makes a stunningly beautiful earring when combined with turquoise in a slab form. WE WILL NO LONGER OFFER ‘SPINY OYSTER’ SHELL JEWELRY AFTER SALE OF OUR EXISTING FEW ITEMS. WHY? See “Comments” below.

Materials:  Spiny Oyster shell and Turquoise slab; Sterling Silver ear wires. ‘Spiny Oyster’ is now endangered; we will not offer more in the future. See “Comments” below.

Detailed Dimensions.  [Dimensions are approximate; measurements made with a micrometer]

• Earring Total length including ear wires:  2.5”; with 0.5” long ear wire & 2” long slab drop

• Earring slab widest width:  0.7”

• Weight:  14 grams

Comments.  We are delighted to offer these stunningly beautiful turquoise & ‘spiny oyster’ slab earrings hand-crafted in 2019 pre-Covid by Kewa [Santo Domingo] Native American jewelry artist Veronica Tortalita.  Each of Veronica’s earrings is a unique reflection of her superb artistic vision and skill.   She is known for the unique shapes and beauty of her slab ‘Spiny Oyster’ and turquoise earrings.

She begins by envisioning the design, shape, size and beauty she wants to create out of specific small pieces of a slab of turquoise & Spiny Oyster shell.  To produce especially beautiful earring pair, she also has to select a second piece of slab that will closely match the same colors, design & pattern of turquoise & shell as the first piece! [This is very challenging due to extensive variation in slab matrix composition & thickness, and natural variation in the color and characteristics of semi-precious stones. ] Next step is hand-shaping the pieces into appealing shapes; followed by polishing the surfaces & carefully drilling holes for the sterling silver wire.  Unskilled or hurried work can crack, scratch, or demolish turquoise and other semi-precious stones & ‘slabs’ because they are relatively soft materials.  So we are awed when we think about the artistic vision required—not just the time involved and difficulty of hand-selecting, hand-cutting, hand-shaping, & hand-drilling the slab pieces—to produce stunning, one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted earrings like these!

The jewelry market is now flooded with inexpensive fake “American Indian” silver jewelry that in fact originates in foreign countries and is either hand-made in ‘sweat shops’ or is mass-produced by machines in factories.  Many Native American artists rely on sale of their unique art to support themselves and their families.  So by purchasing a Veronica Tortalita ‘original’, you are supporting not only an especially skilled Native American artist, but also helping to preserve the threatened hand-crafted art knowledge, vision and skills handed down by previous generations of her Kewa ancestors.  Native Americans are not only the first occupants of America—they also are the first American artists as reflected in prehistoric dwellings, petroglyphs, pictographs, paintings, basketry, pottery, foot wear, and clothing.