Do you know what kind of turquoise is on my Carlos White Eagle Watch Cuff?

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Hi Paula!

I have a Watch Cuff made by Carlos White Eagle and I would like to know if you could identify the type of turquoise stones that are on it. When I purchased the cuff the top feather that holds the watch in was broken. I was able to find Carlos and have him fix it for me. He remembered the piece from the late 60’s and that he had custom made it for a doctor. The inscription reads “For Dr. H.M. Wilke”. The thing is all the time I spent with him, I forgot to ask him where the stones came from. It has a bear tooth and a claw and he verified that.
Thanks for your help!!
Jess

Jess !

What a treasure. I’d be interested to hear the story of how you got the watch, how you were able to hook up with Apache artist Carlos White Eagle, and all that good stuff !!

I also like your man-at-work photo with purchase order and keyboard back ground – do you wear this watch to work ??!!

What a fabulous watch !

What mine could these turquoise stones have come from? Well, as you know, computer monitor settings vary and what might look bright blue here might look deep bluish-green there. Dark brown matrix can look black from one screen to another.

But knowing the type of stones that have appeared in Carlos White Eagle’s pieces from that era and taking an educated guess, I am thinking it could be one of the mines below. I’m going to paste some photos of items we have or have had in our store with the names of the mines the turquoise came from below each photo. Why don’t you tell me which picture looks the most like your stones and then I’ll give you my best guess. Feel free to post your reply right here as a reply to this blog and once you and I both dive in, we can see what others might think.

It is easier in person. Photos are difficult. And stones from one portion of a mine can look quite different from another section, but anyway…….here we go.

Bisbee

Blue Diamond

Blue Gem

Morenci

Number 8 or # 8

Turquoise Mountain

Mystery Mine - You fill in the blank _____________

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25 thoughts on “Do you know what kind of turquoise is on my Carlos White Eagle Watch Cuff?”

  1. I love Carlos White Eagle’s work and that is a stunning example. I love it! Everything he does is completely unique and one of a kind and it’s all fabulous. I sold a watch bracelet on eBay not that long ago that had different turquoise. I think yours is Blue Gem turquoise, just as a guess. I have an amazing ring of his I just listed on eBay that has Bisbee and the bracelet I sold had Morenci and Kingman, so there’s no consistency in the stones he used. I think your watch bracelet is fabulous! Congrats on having snagged it and also in having him repair it for you.

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  2. Hi Paula!
    Thanks for answering my question. Based on the pictures you posted and with the research done on the net, I believe I have
    Blue Gem stones. Which makes me very happy if they are.. I will be attempting to see Carlos again in the next few weeks so I
    will remember to ask him. And yes I do wear it to work every now and then but I mostly where it when my wife anf I go on our driving
    trips. I would like to apologize for the length of the answer but there is a lot of info to relate.

    I originally found the cuff on the website of a gentleman who sold arrowheads / artifacts. At that time I was buying watch cuffs
    but it was out of my budget for just one item so I bookmarked it and would “visit” it a few times a year to see if he still had it.
    Well I went through, maybe 7 years of this, when I was finally able to buy the cuff. I made him an offer and was finally able
    to add it to my collection. Now I needed to find someone to repair it. I did not have a contact at the time, so for “laughs and giggles”
    I tried searching for Carlos White Eagle. It wasn’t too hard because he has a My Space page. I sent him a message regarding
    the repair. He told that yes he remembered the piece from the late 60’s and that he Custom made it for a Doctor and that, yes, he could
    repair it for me. The trick now was to get it to him. He lives in a very isolated area that is about 103 miles from me and I wanted to send it
    to him. He doesn’t trust UPS to get it to him in a timely manner so my only other choice was the US Mail. When he told me how much I
    should insure it for I just decided to take the drive myself and deliver it into his hands! I am really glad I did. My wife and I spent many
    hours with him and his wife, Christine talking. He told me that he custom made it for a doctor in the late 60’s. It has a Bear tooth and claw.
    The inlay of the shield is jet, mother of pearl, turquoise and coral. When I asked him how he came up with the design, he said he doesn’t
    remember but he was “really out there back then”. He also said that people had a lot of money to blow on things like this and he thinks
    he may have charged that doctor around $3500.00 at the time. That really shocked me because that was a lot of cash back then.
    You could have bought a house in Los Angeles for $25,000.00. Before he could repair it he needed to remove all the stones due to the
    high heat he needed to use. He reassembled it perfectly. He is a very upfront and spiritual person. He has many dogs and a few are hybrid wolf dogs.
    The wolf is his spiritual guide and a lot of his work reflects that. My next dilemma was getting a watch that would fit into the cuff. After a couple
    of tries I found the Citizens ECO Diver which fit just right. The watch renews its batteries through the light that shine on it’s face so I
    don’t have to worry about replacing it for 10 years or more because replacing it is going to be very difficult. The silver is a heavy gage
    and Carlos needed to do it at his shop in order to get it in. He gave it a nice polish and there you have it. The cuff with the watch weighs a
    hefty 410 grams = 14.46 ounces.

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    • Hi Jess,
      Thanks for the GREAT story ! Isn’t that the truth about needing a very experienced and talented silversmith to do such a repair ! How fortunate he was THAT close so you could go do it in person – a treasure of a visit, I’m sure !
      And “back then” during the last big Native American jewelry boom, things were VERY high priced, then the bottom fell out of the market. Kind of a bubble thing.
      I also think they are Blue Gem Turquoise stones so it will be interesting to see if the next time you talk with Carlos he remembers what kind of stones he used.
      Thanks for the question and the story !!
      Paula

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  6. Well my friends i’m almost sure its a very rare piece of bisbee. but all your remarks are very interesting Carlos White Eagle Sr.

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  8. How wonderful that Carlos White Eagle Sr. himself responded. Fabulous that it was Bisbee! I’ve been trying to reach him about a piece of mine. Does anyone know how I can reach him? Linda

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  11. I wish I could. I don’t think it’s possible. I live in NYC and I don’t have a car or money for travel now. But some day things may change. I would love to meet him. I envy those of you who have! Someone I sold a wonderful bracelet has been in touch with him and may have visited him by now. I have one ring that is astonishing that I know he made. It’s wonderful and fully signed but I also have a bolo which he may have made. Someone who wrote a book on hallmarks said the hallmark on the bolo is one that he used, but the work isn’t work I’d identify with him, so I’m asking him if he can tell me if he made it, or whose hallmark that is! I’m hoping to sort this out because I wouldn’t want to sell something that wasn’t authentic.

    Paula it was generous and kind of you to sek him for the email address. I’m so grateful to you! Linda

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  12. We have a Carlos White Eagle Kachina crafted by the Master himself. It’s signed on the back with his full signature, is all silver with semi-precious stones, including turquoise, red stone and white stone. It stands at 7-1/2″ tall and is so delicately crafted that I’m sure it was one of his early pieces. Please write to me to determine its value. I can send photos to anyone interested.

    Best regards,

    Victor

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    • The. Only turquoise that white Eagle used
      Are as followed
      Bisbee ,number8 ,mountain spider web
      Blue diamond , he never uses cheap stones every stone that goes into his artwork are no longer mined so they would be hard to find. As well as other Simi persious stones for the most part all
      Stones are in rae form before cut shapes and. Polished. Other silversmith would
      Go to him to trade or buy his stock
      He uses red coral jet mother pearl
      All pieces are hand formed nothing is cast.
      Any thing you get created by white Eagle
      Is one of a kind no two pieces are the same for the fact there hand crafted
      If you need any more info if I can answer
      Any questions drop a line

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  14. The traditional classification in the West, which goes back to the Ancient Greeks, begins with a distinction between precious and semi-precious stones; similar distinctions are made in other cultures. In modern usage the precious stones are diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald, with all other gemstones being semi-precious.:

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  15. Since this discussion is still active I thought I should mention, with sadness, that Carlos White Eagle died in February 2013.

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  17. I have a large Eagle Turquoise Cuff bracelet, although, there is only an “F” as a hallmark on it, there also is what appears like a written white tag with maybe a Pawn number on it and the written
    name of Carlos Whiteeagle above the number. Can you tell me how I would verify if this is a Carlos WhiteEagle creation or?
    Jean

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