FREE: Authentic Nellie Begay Navajo Necklace mid-70s from Window Rock, AZ

The listing, Authentic Nellie Begay Navajo Necklace mid-70s from Window Rock, AZ has ended.

This necklace was one of a large batch purchased by me in 1975 from Nellie Begay, a Navajo artisan living in Northern Arizona and a friend of my mother. My husband, a German national, showed Nellie's necklaces to his friend, a Dusseldorf jeweler. The friend was about to expand his shop and enthused about selling the necklaces, since there was nothing like them in Germany. We planned a Christmas stay with my mother in law and told him we would bring necklaces with us. Nothing was on paper; only over the phone, but he agreed to purchase them.

Nellie worked for several months on them, as a special order. We took them to Dusseldorf in November of '75, thinking we had a ready sale. When we arrived, we found that the jeweler had had a heart attack and was in the hospital. He was in for a long recovery and it seemed tacky to mention the necklaces, so we let it go.

When he finally recovered, he expressed an interest in them, but wasn't planning on expanding, as before. We had given away so many necklaces to friends and family as gifts, and had put the rest in my mother's storage shed. We couldn't make it to Germany again and by then, well, the moment had passed.

When my mother lost her battle with heart disease, I squeezed all of her things into my garage. I was surprised to find the necklaces still there, just as we had left them 36 years ago (although knowing her, I should not have been surprised.) This is one of the last few authentic Nellie Begay Navajo necklaces that I have left. It boasts sparkly clear beads with genuine jojoba accents. Gold colored spacer beads accent the piece, which is approximately 26" in circumference if you don't include the sunburst pendant. The sunburst itself is an additional 4" long.

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