Orange Spiny Oyster and Turquoise Jacla Santo Domingo Necklace

Our Orange Spiny Oyster and Turquoise Jacla Four Strand Necklace Santo Domingo is an extraordinary expression of Kewa artistry, commissioned personally by Jean Marie from a talented female artisan of Santo Domingo Pueblo whom she has come to know closely over the years. Jean Marie has visited the artist’s home, met her family, and witnessed the continuity of a jewelry tradition passed from one generation to the next. Four generous strands of glowing orange spiny oyster create the body of the necklace, punctuated with flashes of turquoise before gathering into a dramatic removable turquoise jacla. Worn with the jacla, the necklace becomes sculptural and ceremonial in feeling; removed, it transforms into a beautifully fluid four-strand spiny oyster necklace with an entirely different character.

Spiny oyster, from the Spondylus family of marine shells, has traveled into the Southwest through long-established trade networks and became an important material in Pueblo jewelry. Its remarkable natural palette ranges from coral and tangerine to deep red and purple, and the intense orange used here gives the necklace extraordinary warmth. Against it, turquoise appears almost electric. Turquoise has been treasured in Southwestern Native adornment for centuries, yet assembling substantial quantities of beautifully coordinated natural material is increasingly challenging, particularly as prized supplies from older or historic sources become more limited. Each bead carries its own differences in color, matrix, thickness, and surface.

The detachable jacla gives this necklace its especially fascinating connection to jewelry history. The word is commonly translated from Navajo as “ear string.” Historically, jaclas were pairs of looped heishi strands worn as earrings; over time, they were also attached to Pueblo necklaces as pendant-like drops. Here, the turquoise jacla descends from the four orange strands and ends with warm shell accents, creating movement and drawing the eye downward. It can also be completely removed, allowing the necklace to be worn simply as four uninterrupted strands of orange spiny oyster. Like the necklace itself, its beauty lies in repetition: countless pieces of shell and stone cut, drilled, shaped, ground, polished, and strung through the demanding Kewa heishi tradition.

For Jean Marie, commissioning a piece like this is inseparable from the relationship behind it. Her admiration for Native American jewelry began during childhood visits to the Pueblos with her mother, Philomena, and today she treasures the friendships she has developed with the artisans she patronizes. Created through that connection, this necklace is more than adornment, it is a vivid expression of Kewa craftsmanship, historic form, exceptional natural materials, and the human relationship that allowed it to come into being. Its detachable jacla adds another dimension entirely: one extraordinary handmade necklace, interpreted in two distinct and equally beautiful ways.

Length 17.5" from nape of neck

Made in New Mexico, USA. 

Weight 105 gr