Giant TOMMY SINGER S Silver White Buffalo Calf Bracelet An extraordinary mens Navajo overlay style cuff A++++ Start Price USD 1,399.95 Current Price USD 1,399.95 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, July 02, 2008 End Time Saturday, July 12, 2008 Location N.E. Kansas Indian Country See more about 'Giant TOMMY SINGER S Silver White Buffalo Calf Bracelet' Description This exceptional piece is just one of many fine Tommy Singer bracelets I currently have listed in just about all price ranges. So if you're a Tommy Singer collector as hundreds of thousands of people are, check out what may be ebay's largest selection of fine Tommy Singer creations as well as hundreds of best in class Navajo and Zuni pieces of wearable jewelry art as well! Well-known and highly respected Navajo artist Tommy Singer began his jewelry design career more than 25 years ago and soon gained quite a reputation for his amazing and innovative chip inlay work which are today collector’s items. That’s the good news. The bad news was that the immense popularity of this art form literally brought a flood of cheap, inferior Taiwanese imports that soon became popular in southwestern tourist areas, and Tommy was wiped out. So Tommy dusted himself off, taught himself some new skills, and began making a wide array of distinctively styled overlay pieces that are considered collectors items. But it’s his higher end turquoise treasure necklaces, fabulous silver and gold necklaces, near life -sized pendant, and his huge bracelets with his unique overlay work -- sterling silver and gold fill or all-sterling -- that have earned him a large and loyal following because of their quality craftsmanship and superlative design. While it’s the Hopi silversmiths who are regarded as the best when it comes to overlay, there’s handful of talented Navajo artists like Tommy and the Becenti family who do equally good overlay work with distinctive and recognizable styles and flair. Overlay is basically two or more bonded layers of pure sterling silver, and it has its origins in the late 1930s when the University of Northern Arizona at Flagstaff, AZ wanted to assist Hopi silversmiths to develop a unique jewelry style that would differentiate their work from that of the Navajos. This rather large scale project had barely begun when WWII began so little was accomplished until after the war was over. And the rest, as they say, is history :-) Each polished surface that you see in the photos is an overlay -- the three three dimensional white buffalo calves, the chunky sterling silver overlays, the towering Monument Valley rock formations on the Navajo reservation, and the sterling accent bands along both edges. An overlay is a design or partial design created from a separate layer of sterling silver, removed, and then bonded to a base or bottom layer of reticulated (textured) and oxidized (darkened) sterling silver to create a true three tactile and visual three dimensional effect. White or albino buffalos are extremely rare -- much rarer even than albino humans -- and typically only 1 in every 10,000 births. Currently there are at least three white buffalos in this country three of which have been born since 2005 which is an amazing statistical occurrence. As they grow and mature, however, their white coat becomes tan and their ruff becomes a very light brown. The Ho Chunk buffalo clan of the Winnebago tribe believe that the birth of a white buffalo signifies the return of harmony, both in nature and among all peoples. The Lakota nation explains that 2,000 years ago a young woman who first appeared in the shape of a white buffalo gave the Lakota's ancestors a sacred pipe and sacred ceremonies and made them guardians of the Black Hills. Before leaving, she also prophesized that one day she would return to purify the world, bringing back spiritual balance and harmony; the birth of a white buffalo calf would be a sign that her return was at hand. Native Americans make pilgrimages to the birth places of white buffalos when they can. The exceptionally well designed and flawlessly executed domed bracelet is a new design and honors the three white buffalo calves. The bracelet is collector and museum quality like all of the Tommy Singer's higher end bracelets. Tommy's work is displayed in many of the fine Navajo jewelry collecting guides and in the southwest's most prestigious public and private collections. This extraordinary Tommy Singer cuff style bracelet measures 3" in width from shank to shank. For your comfort, Tommy domed it so that all but the edges rises away from your skin making it more comfortable to wear in temperature extremes when metal can feel very cold or very warm. It has an inside measurement of 6½" with a difficult to adjust opening gap of 1¾." If your wrist is 8" to 8¼" in circumference, this should fit with little or extremely careful adjustment of the shanks. One of Tommy’s hallmarks (T. Singer in script) and his sterling stamp are on the back. Payment is expected no later than ten days after your purchase. Questions: Questions about this item only, please, from serious buyers only and NO questions that are answered in the product description. Most of the questions I receive have nothing to do with the item or are answered in the product description. I don't do free appraisals, free research, put members in touch with artists, or take custom orders so please don't email me about these issues, out of idle curiosity, or questions not pertaining to the item. Pricing: Unlike many other ebay sellers, I don’t over inflate listing prices on the first one or two listings and then cut the price on subsequent listings to fool buyers into think they’re getting a hot deal. My prices as is are fair and firm, I do not negotiate lower prices on or off ebay, and I don’t accept Best Offers which are seller killers. Please respect this. Extra Photos: Please remember that people buy millions of dollars’ worth of products each month in this country from catalogues where generally there’s only one photograph and about three short descriptive lines. Sorry, no additional photos are available for this item. CORRECT Email Address: Your ISP’s or your email’s spam filter can and sometimes does prevent delivery of many emails. If you don’t hear from me, this is probably why so please don‘t think you’re being ignored because every purchase and payment is acknowledged. Making Smart Buying Choices: Remember, choose wisely. Save for a while if necessary to buy the best pieces you can possibly afford. Don’t just spend money, invest it in good quality items that have future investment potential. It's against federal law to misrepresent foreign made jewelry as Native American. Protect this investment and assure the Native American authenticity of your purchases by requiring a Certificate of Authenticity. Be wary of items with many bids -- especially when the bidding exceeds $200.00, and ebay hides the bidders‘ identities. The truth is that there isn’t enough traffic anymore in the Native American jewelry category to generate lots of bids on most items, and sellers you wouldn‘t expect routinely engage in shill bidding practices. Be skeptical of sellers who say they’ve signed some vague paper with an anonymous third party to accurately represent their items. Ebay has no such requirement. With Fixed Price listings like mine, shilling is impossible so you can have confidence the buyer is a legitimate buyer -- not me under a different ID or not any associates in a fraudulent shill bidding ring. Authenticity and Provenance: This is a new rather than a previously owned item, and a Certificate of Authenticity guaranteeing its Native American origin is included. The jewelry I sell isn’t stolen (ebay is a leading venue for stolen merchandise and, yes, some of what you see in the Native American jewelry category is stolen), and the artists and traders have been all paid so you needn’t worry about the police knocking on your door or any letters from attorneys. Everything but pawn sterling silver jewelry and stone necklaces are cleaned and polished with tarnish retardant polish before shipping so that it arrives looking sparkling clean and odor free. Buy Only Authentic Native American Jewelry: If you care whether the jewelry you buy is authentic Native American, please click on the View Seller's Other Items link in the box at the top of the page at right. A substantial percentage of the jewelry offered in the Native American category is actually made in China, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and elsewhere and then misrepresented as Navajo or Zuni. Two-thirds of all so-called Native American jewelry sold in this country is fake, and a lot of it is sold on ebay by sellers who should know better both in terms of the law, good ethics, and knowledge about the true origins of their products. Multiple Item Shipping: For your convenience and savings, multiple jewelry purchases purchased within a 10 day period can be shipped together Priority Mail -- just please let me know when you begin buying. Your new jewelry will be carefully packed by people who care whether your hand made jewelry art arrives in the same condition it was when shipped because it deserves to be properly protected. On international orders, some items can be combined for fixed rate shipping, and others can’t. Please email me if you a question about multiple item international shipping. U.S. Domestic Shipping and Insurance: Same day USPS Priority Mail shipping with 2-3 business day delivery and FREE delivery confirmation except weekends, holidays, unplanned events like doctors‘ appointments and illness, dangerous weather, and buying trips from a non-smoker on receipt of payment before 3 pm Central Time. I require Post Office internally trackable insurance on all shipments to protect you against Post Office loss or damage because delivery confirmation is NOT tracking. PayPal requires signature confirmation on all shipments of $250.00 or more which will be included when applicable at cost with the insurance. USPS Express Mail with overnight delivery to most but not all locations available -- cost varies by item shape, size, and weight of your purchase(s) -- please email for a quote. There will be a small handling charge on Express Mail items to cover packing materials and gas to the Post Office. International Shipping and Insurance: Your order will be shipped insured International First Class Mail (formerly Air Letter Post) because International Priority Mail (formerly Global Priority Mail) has become much more expensive and doesn‘t provide substantially better delivery time in most cases. Recorded Delivery may be required on some orders. Most orders will arrive within 1-2 weeks, but exact delivery time depends on how fast your country’s customs clears the parcel. Exact shipping charges will vary by parcel weight, destination, and insurance depending on the size and weight of an item you purchase. The Post Office no longer furnishes free shipping supplies for expedited international shipments so there will be a $1.50 charge for shipping materials. The U.S. Post Office won’t insure silver, gold, or platinum jewelry so I use a private insurance carrier for international shipments. Please email for shipping/insurance costs to your country. Payment Options: On domestic orders, I accept credit cards through PayPal (Visa, Mastercard, Discovercard, American Express) and also gratefully accept PayPal e-checks, money orders, and bank or cashiers' checks. International customers are asked to remit payment through PayPal. Sales tax: Only Kansas residents must pay Kansas sales tax. Feedback Policy: A transaction is considered complete when you receive your items and post feedback. I will then post feedback within a few days. Please be patient as I have many, many feedbacks to do and don’t use those one feedback fits all systems. Returns: Sales are not made on an approval basis and you are expected to keep you what you’ve agreed to buy except for major misrepresentation or major defect. In an effort to coerce sellers into accepting only PayPal, ebay no longer refunds sellers final value fees on returns if the buyer didn’t pay with PayPal so this policy varies with specific circumstances. Ebay never refunds listing fees. Returns must be approved in advance and then return shipped within 3 business days of receipt, and the item must be returned in its original condition or full credit may not be given. I issue merchandise credits less a restocking fee. A restocking fee is necessary to cover a part of the enormous number of hidden expenses that returns create within the ebay system that buyers are unaware of. © Photos and product description: Sellers: please take your own photos, do your own research, and write your own product descriptions. This is copyrighted material. Thank you.On Oct-23-07 at 00:33:28 PDT, seller added the following information: shjames store Powered by eBay Turbo Lister The free listing tool. List your items fast and easy and manage your active items. Place a Bid!