Silver with Hubbell Glass stones Circa 1900/10 Size 8-8.25 (slightly out of round) Face measures 7/8" by 3/4" Unsigned, as is common with these old pieces. Coin or higher in silver content.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Turquoise was a rare commodity in the Southwestern United States but was highly prized by the Indigenous peoples for the beautiful shades of blue and green. Commercial Turquoise mining would not hit the region until the thirties, so to satisfy this high demand paired with low supply, Lorenzo Hubbell, of the Hubbel Trading Post in Arizona, imported glass stone simulants and beads from Czechoslovakia and Eastern Europe to use as a substitute for Turquoise in jewelry. The importing of glass stones began around 1890 and ceased in the early twenties. Some glass stones and beads were one solid color, while others, such as in this ring, contained multiple colors of glass to emulate the look of matrix found within natural Turquoise.
This ring is in a traditional cluster style with seven stones and features very rudimentary handmade bezels, a hallmark of early silver making in the Southwest. You can see in the close-up pictures I included the early workmanship and wear corresponding to over a hundred years of use. Not only are the silver bezels partially worn away, but the glass stones themselves show a curvature along the perimeter of the ring. The shank is of the two-part split variety and also shows early tooling. All in all, this is a superb ring that is very historic in nature. These early Hubbell Glass rings do not come up often, so please take a few moments to enjoy.
Very good condition.
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