Southwest Jewelry Glossary: A Field Guide Reference

This glossary defines approximately 60 terms used in the study and collection of Southwest jewelry, drawn from the field guide entries on stampwork, overlay, tufa casting, channel inlay, needlepoint and petit point, clusterwork, sand casting, repoussé, and shadowbox. Terms link to the relevant technique page where applicable.

Alloy

A metallic mixture of two or more elements. Sterling silver (92.5% silver, 7.5% copper) is the standard alloy in Southwest silversmithing. Coin silver, used in the earliest Navajo work, was approximately 90% silver. The copper content in both alloys gives the metal workability and hardness not found in fine silver.

Annealing

Heating metal to restore softness lost through work-hardening. In silversmithing, sheet silver is annealed by heating to a dull red glow and quenching in water. Regular annealing is essential in repoussé and any technique requiring extensive forming of sheet metal. Without it, the metal cracks.

Assay

Testing to verify metal content. An assay mark on jewelry confirms the silver or gold content meets a legal standard. In Southwest jewelry, Indian Arts and Crafts Board hallmark certification does not assay individual pieces but establishes artist identity.

Backing sheet

The foundational silver sheet to which bezels, channels, or overlay elements are soldered. In clusterwork and channel inlay, backing sheet gauge affects structural integrity; heavier gauge supports more stones without warping.

Bezel

A thin wall of metal surrounding a stone to hold it in place. In Southwest jewelry, bezels are typically constructed from fine-silver wire strip, formed to the stone's perimeter, and soldered to the backing. Bezel quality—wall height, thickness, and evenness of closure—is a primary quality indicator in needlepoint, petit point, and clusterwork.

Bisbee turquoise

Turquoise from the Lavender Pit of the Bisbee copper mine in Arizona, known for its deep blue color with dark limonite matrix. One of the most sought-after turquoise sources in the collector market, mined actively until the 1970s. Provenance claims for Bisbee turquoise require verification; the mine is exhausted.

Burnishing

Polishing metal by rubbing with a hard, smooth tool. Burnishing compresses the surface rather than removing material, producing a high-luster finish without abrasion. Used to finish bezel walls after stone setting and to refine areas of overlay.

Cabochon

A stone cut with a domed top surface and flat back, without facets. The dominant stone-cut form in Southwest jewelry. Turquoise, coral, jet, spiny oyster, and most other stones used in Southwest jewelry are cabochon-cut.

Carving (tufa)

The process of incising a design into tufa stone to create a casting mold. Each carving is unique; the carver works in negative, reversing the design since the mold impression will be the mirror of what is carved. See tufa casting.

Chasing

Refining raised metal from the front surface using hardened punches. Chasing follows repoussé work—after the design is raised from the back, chasing adds crisp edges, surface texture, and detail from the front. The two techniques together produce the full range of hand-raised relief work.

Channel

In channel inlay, a silver wall soldered to the backing sheet that defines the compartment a stone must fill. The precision of the channel determines how accurately each stone must be cut; tighter channels produce a more seamless inlay surface.

Clan symbol

A visual mark representing a Hopi clan, used as a primary design element in Hopi overlay. Clan symbols—bear paw, eagle, corn, sun, water—carry specific cultural meanings and appear in silversmithing, pottery, and architectural contexts. Their presence on jewelry is one indicator of authentic Hopi cultural content.

Cluster

A composition of multiple stones radiating from a central element. See clusterwork. The term also appears in "cluster bracelet," a Zuni form where turquoise and coral stones fill the entire visible face of a cuff.

Coin silver

Silver derived from melted Mexican and American coins, the source material for early Navajo silversmithing before commercial sheet and wire became available in the late 19th century. Coin silver's approximate 90% purity differs slightly from sterling's 92.5%, and the copper content varies by coin origin, affecting color and workability.

Concha

A disk or oval-shaped silver plate used in concha belts, a major form in Navajo and Pueblo jewelry. Conchas are fabricated from sheet silver and decorated with stampwork, repoussé, or overlay; they are threaded on a leather or fabric belt. The scalloped edge concha is a classic form documented by Adair.

Coral

A common stone material in Southwest jewelry, typically dyed or natural Mediterranean or Asian coral in red, orange, or pink. Coral appears as a dominant stone in Zuni clusterwork and channel inlay. "Angel skin" coral is pale pink; "oxblood" coral is deep red. Bamboo coral, branch coral, and sponge coral are also used. Some "coral" in tourist-grade work is plastic or synthetic resin.

Die (stamp die)

A hardened steel tool with a design cut into its face, used in stampwork to press repeated motifs into silver. Southwest silversmiths inherited dies from Mexican craftsmen in the 1870s and have developed extensive personal die libraries since. A die can produce thousands of impressions before wearing; some dies circulate across generations of smiths.

Fabrication

Constructing jewelry from sheet, wire, and other formed components by cutting, bending, and soldering, as opposed to casting. Most Southwest silver combines fabrication with one or more decorative techniques. Purely fabricated work—assembled without casting—is most common in overlay and channel inlay.

Flux

A chemical compound applied to metal before soldering to prevent oxidation during heating. Common fluxes include borax, handy flux, and paste flux. Flux allows solder to flow cleanly to the join; without it, oxidation prevents solder adhesion.

Fossil ivory

Ivory from extinct mammoths or mastodons, legal to trade and used in some contemporary Southwest inlay as a substitute for fresh ivory. Distinguishable from bone by its denser, more uniform texture and characteristic cross-hatching visible in cross-section.

Gauge

A measure of metal thickness, in Southwest silversmithing typically expressed in millimeters or by Brown & Sharpe (B&S) gauge numbers. Heavier gauge (thicker sheet) is required for pieces carrying many bezels or subject to mechanical stress; lighter gauge is used for flexible elements and thin decorative sheet.

Guild (Hopi Silvercraft Cooperative Guild)

The cooperative organization founded on Second Mesa, Arizona, in the late 1940s to develop and market Hopi overlay as a culturally distinct silversmithing tradition. The Guild standardized technique training, established design guidelines, and registered a collective hallmark. Wright's Hopi Silver (1972) provides the full history.

Hallmark

A maker's mark stamped or engraved into a jewelry piece to identify the artist. Hallmark registration with the Indian Arts and Crafts Board or the Navajo Nation allows attribution of signed pieces. Hougart's Hallmarks of the Southwest (2000) is the primary collector reference for identifying Southwest marks.

Indian Arts and Crafts Act

U.S. federal law (25 U.S.C. § 305 et seq.) prohibiting the misrepresentation of art and craft as "Indian made" when the maker is not an enrolled tribal member or certified Indian artisan. The Act gives teeth to authenticity claims; violations are felonies. Collectors should request artist enrollment documentation when authenticity is commercially significant.

Inlay

The general category of techniques in which materials are set into recesses in a base material to create a flush or near-flush surface. In Southwest jewelry, inlay typically refers to stone or shell set into silver-channel frameworks, as in channel inlay and shadowbox. See also mosaic inlay.

Jet

A variety of lignite (fossilized wood) used as a black stone in Southwest jewelry since pre-contact times. Pueblo peoples have used jet from the Cerrillos area of New Mexico in mosaic work for centuries. Contemporary jet in Southwest jewelry is often sourced from Whitby, England. Jet is light and somewhat fragile; black glass, onyx, or acrylic are common substitutes in cheaper work.

Kachina (Katsina)

Spirit beings in Hopi and Zuni cosmology, represented in both ceremonial objects and decorative arts. Kachina figures appear as design motifs in Hopi overlay and Zuni inlay, carrying specific cultural meaning. Their use in jewelry design is an expression of Hopi or Zuni cultural identity, not a generic decorative choice.

Lapidary

The craft of cutting, grinding, and polishing stones for jewelry. In Southwest jewelry traditions, lapidary skill is central to needlepoint and petit point and channel inlay, where each stone must be individually shaped to fit a defined space. Many artists both silversmith and do their own lapidary; others work with dedicated lapidary partners.

Liver of sulfur

A potassium polysulfide compound used as an oxidizing agent to darken silver, creating the black recessed areas in Hopi overlay and adding contrast to stamped or textured surfaces. Applied as a hot solution; controlled by the concentration, temperature, and duration of immersion.

Lone Mountain turquoise

Turquoise from the Lone Mountain mine in Esmeralda County, Nevada, known for exceptionally hard, spiderwebbed matrix and clear blue-green to blue color. Among the most historically prized collector turquoise. The mine has produced only small quantities, making authentic Lone Mountain stones rare and expensive.

Matrix

The host rock inclusions visible in turquoise, appearing as veins, spiderwebbing, or patches of brown, black, or gold. Matrix can increase or decrease a stone's collector value depending on its pattern and the preferences of the buyer. Spiderweb matrix—fine, even webbing across the stone face—commands premium prices in the collector market.

Mosaic inlay

A pre-contact Pueblo technique in which small pieces of stone, shell, and other materials are set in a resinous adhesive on a base material without silver channels. Channel inlay adapts the mosaic concept into a silver-channel framework; both descend from the same lapidary tradition in the Pueblo cultural record.

Navajo

The largest tribal nation in the United States, whose smiths developed the core Southwestern silver traditions from the 1860s onward. Navajo silversmithing traditions encompass stampwork, repoussé, tufa casting, sand casting, and squash blossom forms, among others.

Needlepoint

A Zuni stone-setting technique using elongated, tapered stones in fine bezels. The stone length is typically four to six times the width. See Needlepoint and Petit Point.

Oxidation

The chemical darkening of silver through reaction with sulfur compounds. In Hopi overlay, the oxidation of the lower silver sheet creates the dark ground against which the bright cutout design reads. Patina from oxidation can be removed by polishing; protecting overlay work from excessive polishing preserves the design contrast.

Patina

Surface aging on silver resulting from oxidation, use, and handling. Natural patina darkens recesses and highlights relief elements; it is considered desirable on antique and vintage Southwest silver because it confirms age. Artificial patina can be applied with oxidizing compounds; experienced collectors can usually distinguish natural aging from chemically accelerated darkening.

Petit point

A Zuni stone-setting technique using small, rounded or oval stones in fine bezels, closely related to needlepoint. The primary distinction from needlepoint is stone shape—petit point stones are rounder rather than elongated.

Pitch

A mixture of pitch, plaster, and linseed oil used as a yielding support for sheet metal during repoussé work. The metal is embedded in warm pitch, which hardens to support it during hammer work but can be reheated to release the piece for annealing or repositioning.

Pueblo

The collective designation for the Indigenous peoples of settled agricultural villages in New Mexico and Arizona. Pueblo silversmithing traditions—Zuni, Hopi, Santo Domingo (Kewa), Cochiti, and others—each developed distinct techniques and design vocabularies, often in dialogue with Navajo traditions.

Repoussé

See the full entry at What Is Repoussé in Native American Jewelry? A technique of raising metal relief from the back of sheet silver using punches and hammers.

Sand casting

See Sand Casting vs. Tufa Casting. A casting method using compressed foundry sand as the mold material, capable of finer detail than tufa casting.

Shadowbox

See What Is the Shadowbox Technique in Hopi Jewelry? A Hopi construction placing inlaid elements inside a raised silver frame that casts shadows across the composition.

Sleeping Beauty turquoise

Turquoise from the Sleeping Beauty mine in Globe, Arizona, known for its uniform sky-blue color and minimal matrix. Widely used in mid-range Southwest jewelry because of its consistency; the mine ceased turquoise production in 2012, making genuine Sleeping Beauty increasingly expensive on the secondary market.

Solder

A metal alloy with a lower melting point than the base metal, used to join silver components. In Southwest silversmithing, silver solder comes in hard, medium, and easy grades with progressively lower flow temperatures; complex pieces use multiple grades in sequence to avoid reflowing earlier joints while making later ones.

Spiny oyster

Spondylus shell, harvested from Pacific waters and used in Southwest jewelry as a red-orange to purple stone material. Spiny oyster has been traded in the Southwest since pre-contact times and appears in both channel inlay and bezel-set forms. It is sometimes used as a coral substitute but has a distinct texture and surface character.

Sprue

The channel in a casting mold through which molten metal is poured. After casting, the solidified sprue is cut and the entry point filed flush. The sprue mark on a finished piece confirms that casting was involved in its production. See tufa casting and sand casting.

Squash blossom

A Navajo necklace form consisting of a central naja pendant flanked by blossoms—flared, flower-like silver beads derived from Mexican pomegranate forms. One of the most recognized icons of Southwest jewelry; squash blossom necklaces are often decorated with stampwork and may incorporate turquoise in the naja. The "squash blossom" name is English; the Navajo term refers to the naja form.

Stampwork

See What Is Stampwork in Navajo and Pueblo Jewelry? The technique of pressing steel dies into sheet silver to create repeated decorative motifs.

Sterling

Silver of 92.5% purity, the standard commercial alloy for Southwest jewelry from the early 20th century onward. Sterling is slightly harder than coin silver and more uniform in composition, making it more predictable to work. "925" is the international purity mark for sterling.

Tufa

Porous volcanic tuff stone used as casting mold material in tufa casting. Southwest tufa comes from volcanic deposits throughout the Colorado Plateau. Its porous structure absorbs gases during the silver pour, reducing bubble formation, but its relatively coarse grain limits achievable surface detail compared to sand casting.

Turquoise

A copper-aluminum phosphate mineral ranging in color from pale blue-green to deep blue, the most iconic stone in Southwest jewelry. Color and matrix character vary by mine source; collector-grade turquoise is typically natural and untreated, while commercial-grade stone is often stabilized (impregnated with resin to harden), enhanced (color-treated), or simulated in plastic. Southwest mines include Bisbee, Sleeping Beauty, Lone Mountain, Royston, and Kingman, each with characteristic visual signatures.

Work-hardening

The increase in hardness and brittleness that occurs when metal is deformed through working. Work-hardened silver resists further shaping and will crack if pushed. The solution is annealing—heating to restore softness. Managing the work-hardening cycle is a fundamental physical intelligence of silversmithing.

Zuni

A Pueblo people of western New Mexico whose silversmiths developed the dominant traditions in stone-intensive techniques: needlepoint and petit point, clusterwork, channel inlay, and mosaic inlay. Zuni silversmithing draws on pre-contact lapidary traditions that predate silver work in the Pueblo record.