Questions? Call us at 1-877-865-3009
NOTICE: photos are NOT to scale and usually are enlarged to show product detail. Please read the item details about the product size prior to making purchase. The size of the beads and the length of the strands are approximate and are not guaranteed, as we do not have time or manpower to measure each and every bead & strand. We try to accurately depict the color and color shades of our stones, but all monitors are calibrated differently and we cannot guarantee that the color of an item is exactly like what you see from on your particular computer screen. Please contact us if you have any questions!
IMPORTANT INFO: We have a NO RETURN policy on bead products, please read our Return Policy
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Do you sell wholesale or discount your products?
Please note that we are a Retail Business but we do offer a volume buyers discount program:
10% Off all orders over $ 75.00, use Promo Code: disc10
15% Off all orders over $200.00, use Promo Code: disc15
20% Off all orders over $500.00, use Promo Code: disc20
25% Off all orders over $1000.00, use Promo Code: disc25
NOTE that the shopping cart automatically makes these deductions when you enter the promotional code in the shopping cart, so please enter the code when placing your order.
Attention TEXAS business buyers, you must provide us a signed Texas Resale Certificate in order to NOT be charged Sales Tax, you can go here for that form: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxforms/01-3392.pdf
Can you send me a catalog?
NO. We cannot produce a catalog of our products because many of the items are "one-of-a-kind" and once sold they are gone!
Print your own "real-time" catalog with our current IN STOCK inventory -
Click here: Create a Catalog
Do you have a minimum for orders?
We do not have any minimums - no minimum order amount or quantity.
How do you handle Back Ordered items?
Our web site operates in REAL time . . . so the current "in stock" quantity should be accurate. Occasionally we make an error in these quantities so IF something is Out of Stock on your order we will issue a credit back to your card for that amount. We DO NOT place items on back order, because although many things are restockable, we never know how soon we will be able to get something back in stock, due to our products coming from dozens of different suppliers. NOTE: If you choose to ADD TO CART something that is out of stock but says it is "restockable", we will CANCEL that item due the the explanation above.
Do you provide Quality products?
We know that buying something from a photograph over the internet can make potential customers a little skeptical! We strive to provide the best products we can find and the majority of items we sell we have been hand selected! The photographs on our web site are the actual picture of the product you will be getting . . . that's right we photograph EVERYTHING! (of course the exception would be on something common, like Round Beads or Chip strands).
We have attempted to accurately depict the products offered on the Site. The true color of a stone will be viewed differently depending upon your computer monitor settings and products also may appear larger or smaller than its actual size SO please read the sizing details for a product before buying it! Most photographs have been enlarged to show detail and all measurements are approximate.
We do our very BEST to accurately represent a product, but please contact us if you have any specific questions about something. NOTE: Please read our Return Policy before buying
How do you find all those great unusual items!!!
Well since we live here in Texas, you can guess that we have to travel quite a lot to find the specialty stones we carry! YES we take to the air 3-4 times a year and travel to wholesale shows as well as visit our suppliers showrooms. Over the years we have located the best shows and suppliers who know what we are looking for and can provide those EXTRAordinary & "hard-to-find" stones.
What do you mean "hand-selected"?
90% of the stones we carry have been hand selected. We buy from a lot of different suppliers in order to find the variety of "hard-to-find" stones we carry. Then we spend a lot of time digging through piles & hanks of strands and picking out the very best we can find. We try to select the best in quality that is available at the time, but I want to say that we do not examine each bead or strand with a magnifying glass (as someone recently suggested)! Please remember that these are natural stones (rocks that is) and we are NOT selling "precious" stones but "semi-precious" stones, so every stone is NOT going to be PERFECT! NOTE: Please read our Return Policy before buying
Each different stones has it's own characteristics and different imperfection issues . . . here are a few examples:
>Gaspeite . . is usually full of pits and has lots of brown matrix
>Larimar . . . nice is very hard to find because the stone has a lot of the host rock in it. Also larimar is NOT just sky blue but coloring can be blue/grey to greenish.
>Ruby Zoisite . . . doesn't take well to polishing and often has chalky edges around where the holes have been drilled.
>Jaspers & Agates. . . these are hard stones and often have small holes or "pits" in them.
>Colorful patterns. . . we try to select the MOST colorful stones & patterns we can find, but when we purchase a strand and cut it to sell it individually, there are ALWAYS going to be a few "less" colorful and patterned stones in that group, so we cannot guarantee they all will look the same or be as colorful.
What type of treatments do the stones you sell have?
We try not to purchase any stones that are dyed or color treated and when buying from suppliers, if we suspect something is color treated, then we ask. If it is, we don't buy it. The exception to this is Coral which has been separated into "dyed" or "natural" categories and also the Stones-HOT Color category which is where we place beads that are color treated to product special colors or effects. NOTICE that we have to depend upon our suppliers to provide accurate information about stone treatments and sometimes the information we have received may be incorrect. We therefore cannot guarantee that a stone is NOT color treated.
95% of the stones for sale on the market today are "stabilized" (a process using pressure and heat to fill the microscopic gaps in the stone with plastic resin, thus making the stone hard enough to cut and polish) by the manufacturer. We have no way of knowing IF a stone is or is not stabilized unless our supplier tells us it's 100% natural, in which case we would state "Natural" in the item description. We therefore assume that ALL the beads we sell have been stabilized, unless marked "natural".
What is the BACKING process found on some cabochons you sell?
We sell our cabochons by piece and not by weight since many of them are "backed" and the weight and thickness of the backing material varies & could add to the overall weight. Often cabochons have been backed to add strength to the stone that will easily be covered by a bezel setting. By putting epoxy on the back before shaping the cabochon, it helps prevent the material from splintering during the cutting. A product, such as the Devcon or Plastic Weld is being bonded to one side of the stone. This is a common practice that Native American Indian cutters have used for many years. NOTE, all cabs that have backing will say so in the item description.
How to I take care of my Native American Jewelry?
Cleaning and caring for your fine turquoise and sterling silver jewelry always comes down to personal taste and style. I personally love the good looking patina (Over time, silver will scratch and chafe as it is used and will develop a soft, rich glow called patina which is prized in old silver.) that years of age bring about on a bracelet, necklace or belt. I have a bracelet that Mom and Dad, Faye and S.G Pence, gave me when I was ten and it has never been cleaned. I wore it for years and that was enough to give it that ‘patina glow’ that it still shows; though, it has not been worn for several years. I have had the bracelet for over fifty years and that is a lot of patina. Now, as I said it does come down to your personal taste. But if you do have a squash that was your grandmother’s, think before you clean it up all shiny and bright, because that aged patina takes years to recover. So before you begin there are several guidelines you may want to consider. If you have jewelry that you would prefer to wear shinning like polished glass that is fine by me. But, and this is the big BUT do not spray “Hagerty” directly onto the piece of jewelry you are cleaning. [These are lessons Mom and I learned the hard way over the years.] Always spray the “Hagerty” silversmith spray polish onto a clean, soft, dry cotton cloth then gently wipe the surface of the piece you are cleaning. Follow with a good buffing, again with a clean, soft, dry cotton cloth. Please, always use the “Hagerty” product. [You can find it on this web site.] It does not harm your stones and it will leave the dark shadows and the black in the overlay work and in the hand stamping of your favorite jewelry. If you are doing the silver beads on a necklace use a cloth for each hand and roll the beads gently through the “Hagerty” on the cloth. Do not pull the beads from end to end, by holding one end or the other. You can easily pull the clasp or hook off if you use to much pressure. [Yes, another one of those hard lessons.] I love keeping a cleaning cloth handy too. You can find those on this web site. They work wonderfully on things I like to wear with a buffed shine, but that do not really need cleaning. I touch up silver earrings, silver hair barrettes and buff my Becenti silver bracelets so the overlay has a slight gloss. Take care of your jewelry and watch it’s value increase over the years to come. Please, keep your necklaces laying flat if they are strung on wire or foxtail. This will keep them from getting a kink that will sooner or later weaken the stringing material. If you have pieces that are strung on string, watch for wear and tear on them too. It is no fun to be sitting in the movies and have a strand of turquoise break and roll down the incline of the floor. [Yes, another lesson the hard way.] Wear your jewelry, take good care of it and you will enjoy it for many years to come. Gayle Pence Coble
What is OLD PAWN jewelry?
"OLD PAWN...the real, real Indian jewelry"
"On the Navajo Indian reservation anything 100 years old is very old, ancient, or antique. People and property of 50 years are old. Off the Navajo Indian reservation old pawn represents the real Indian jewelry. Old pawn is not merely a piece of jewelry that an Indian has pawned because he has needed money. For us, the value and emotional attraction for old pawn Indian jewelry is that it has been owned, appreciated, worn, and used by real living Indians. We see old pawn jewelry as an intimate relic of a people and a culture which is slowly and inevitably disappearing into history. The more we learn of Indian silversmiths and old pawn jewelry the more we are convinced that the old silversmiths produced a higher standard of their art for Indians than they did for traders and non-Indians. When a Navajo man or woman wanted a piece of jewelry he went to a silversmith, usually a relative. The piece was made to order and scaled to the wearer's size and build. In most cases the buyer furnished the makings - silver, turquoise, old jewelry or whatever was needed. Indian jewelry served as decoration, a display of wealth, and as collateral against loans at the trading post. The pawn rack was an important and respectable part of the economic and social life of the Navajo. Jewelry moved in and out of pawn at regular seasonal intervals synchronized to the spring and fall lamb, wool, and harvest activities. Much of the jewelry was withdrawn from pawn during the summer dances and ceremonials, and returned to the vaults again during the winter months. The silversmithing was something else. The Navajos kept their silver untarnished by brushing it in yucca suds and water. The amount of cash or credit advanced depended on the amounts of silver and turquoise, and the owner's credit rating with the post. Old established traders set their own time limits with the individual regardless of the general law which only required traders to hold pawn for thirty days. In summary the old pawn racks were rich sources of the jewelry created by the finest Navajo silversmiths of their day, for their own people, and uncontaminated by taste and influence of alien people and cultures. If a piece of old Navajo pawn could talk, what a story it would tell of dances, ceremonials, and happy times along the beauty way of Indian life." Information courtesy Arizona Highways article, March 1975