Navajo Royston Turquoise Sterling Silver Necklace

Our Navajo Royston Turquoise Sterling Silver Necklace is a striking marriage of an exceptional turquoise stone and sophisticated  hand made silver handwork. created by the same skilled Navajo artisan whose handmade chains, Jean Marie so admires. At its center rests a substantial Royston turquoise cabochon, naturally shaped like a soft half-moon and framed in sterling silver with delicate twisted-rope detailing. Its vivid turquoise-blue surface is interrupted by sweeping passages of golden brown and earthy matrix, giving the stone the appearance of a tiny desert landscape. It is precisely this natural irregularity that makes exceptional Royston so distinctive—and impossible to duplicate.

Royston turquoise comes from the historic Royston mining district near Tonopah, Nevada, an area celebrated for turquoise ranging from clear blue and aqua to remarkable shades of green, often accompanied by warm brown or golden matrix. While Royston turquoise is still associated with active mining, truly exceptional material is not something that can simply be produced on demand. Large, beautifully colored stones with dramatic natural matrix must be discovered within the host rock, and much of that material is lost during cutting. Finding a cabochon with this combination of scale, saturated color, and painterly matrix is therefore particularly special.

The sterling silver chain is itself an important part of the piece. Each elongated link is formed and assembled by hand, connected by rounded silver links that give the necklace an elegant rhythm and distinctly artisanal character. Its construction also makes it wonderfully versatile: the clasp can be secured at different points along the chain, allowing the necklace to sit higher at a dramatic choker length or lower for a more relaxed silhouette. The simplicity of the silver keeps the extraordinary Royston turquoise firmly at center stage.

Jean Marie loves seeking out and patronizing Native artisans whose work preserves the individuality of both maker and material, and this necklace captures exactly what she finds so compelling. She was drawn to the way the artisan allowed an exceptional stone to remain the story rather than overwhelming it with ornamentation. Entirely handmade and inherently one of a kind, this is a piece of wearable sculpture—an exceptional fragment of Nevada turquoise transformed through a Navajo artisan’s hands into something personal, collectible, and meant to be treasured.

Length 17" adjustable

Made in Arizona, USA