Soon after re-locating to Albuquerque in early September after the destruction of our home in New Orleans, we ran into Navajo smith Stanley Parker who had loads of nice work made with premium natural stones. We last got some of Stanley's work in the fall of 2003 and it was a very pleasant surprise to find him again and pick from a wonderful array of rings, bolo ties and pins.

This is one of a group of bolo ties we bought from Stanley. We think the photos are spot-on for accuracy across the range of gorgeous shades represented by this great group of stones. This is a classic design with exquisite natural turquoise and masterful silverwork showing very traditional stampwork. The medallion is basically rectangular in shape with comma-shaped repoussée forms anchoring the corners of the medallion with fleur-de-lis repoussée motifs to left and right of the stone. The near-square stone of natural Pilot Mountain turquoise is set in a straight-edged bezel in the center of the bolo's medallion which is further decorated by stampwork of exacting precision.

The straps are six-ply black cowhide braidwork. The tips, of course, are Sterling. This has a traditional double-loop silver slide on back for adjusting the length.

Stanley's hallmark consists of an arrowhead and the words "SParker" (in script), "NAVAJO" and "Sterling" stamped to the right of the arrowhead.

Stone: 11/16" x 11/16 "

Medallion: 2" x 1 3/8 "

Length of Sterling Tips: 2 1/4 "

Overall Length of Straps & Tips: 39"