Sterling Silver Cobblestone Inlay Ring [R]

David Tune was born in Winslow, Arizona, and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. He has been making a distinctive style of cobblestone inlay jewelry for more than forty years. Tune’s unique cobblestone inlay pieces require him to shape each stone and individually set them in a pattern with pieces of silver. An avid balloonist, he gets his inspiration from looking down at the earth from above. He has received numerous awards including a Gold Division award at the Gallup Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial and Grand Master Award at the Red Earth Festival in Oklahoma City.  His heritage is Creek Nation / Diné (Navajo Nation) / Hopi Pueblo.

In this one-of-a-kind design, Tune cut rectangular pieces of lapis, coral, turquoise, jet, shell and sugilite and set them amid pieces of cut and shaped silver.  He has precisely interspersed thin horizontal pieces of coral, sugilite, lapis and silver against thin vertical pieces of turquoise, coral, shell and silver. The center piece is placed upon a solid shank. Using traditional methods and materials, Tune created a modern masterpiece. It is a piece that was made in the mid part of Tune’s career, in the late 1980s or early 1990s. It is signed with the artist’s name and hallmark sun with a circle around it.

Condition: The ring is in excellent condition, every stone is intact and the settings are secure.

Provenance: The Sterling Silver Cobblestone Inlay Ring comes from a collector in Colorado

Recommended Reading:  Southwestern Indian Jewelry by Dexter Cirillo