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J1605 Bruce Eckhardt

KingmanTurquoise
Price: $2,800.00
 
Description

J1605 Kingman Beads

Kingman turquoise individually hand cut beads, ranging in size from 1/2" to 1", by master lapidary Bruce Eckhardt. The 18” also has Kingman turquoise spacers between each bead.

The Kingman Turquoise Mine is one of the oldest and highest producing Turquoise Mines in America. It was originally discovered by prehistoric Indians well over 1000 years ago. Kingman Turquoise is known for its beautiful sky blue color and produces many variations of blue Turquoise. The Kingman Turquoise mine also produces green Turquoise from the Turquoise Mountain side of the mine. Kingman Turquoise has been the biggest supplier of Turquoise to the Southwestern Turquoise Jewelry industry for nearly as long as the American Turquoise Jewelry industry has existed. In fact, the Kingman Turquoise mine was once part of a Turquoise boom around 1000 AD when the Mayan culture was using a lot of Turquoise for self-adornments and ceremonial items. Today, as in the old times, blue Turquoise from Kingman, Arizona is king, even though the mine produces all colors of Turquoise and green Turquoise is almost becoming blue Turquoise's equal in popularity these days

The mine officially shut down during the 1970s. Later, there was a period of revival and eventually reopened in 2004. The Kingman mine also provided a large amount of turquoise to the Native American jewelry market throughout the twentieth century. Sometimes referred to as a high blue, Kingman jewelry is a magnificent contributor to modern fashion and an expression of humanity's connection to nature.

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About the artist

Bruce Eckhardt

Bruce Eckhardt was raised in Arizona and lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His jewelry has been shown in the Southwest, and across the United States, as well as in collections in Europe, and Asia for over 30 years. He creates unmistakable jewelry and is known as a consummate lapidary artist, jewelry artist, and all around rock-hound. 

One look at Bruce Eckhardt’s jewelry and you’d think he was born making beads. Yet for Bruce Eckhardt, his career in jewelry-making came about by way of his passion for painting.

Eckhardt studied with a Navajo painter at Prescott College in the early 70’s who created a student exchange program with the American Institute of Indian Arts IAIA in Santa Fe. As part of his student exchange, Eckhardt worked in the studio/classroom of Allan Houser – the well-known stone sculptor. During this time Eckhardt realized he loved the feel of stone—the density, resilience, and sense of eternity in the material, yet he still loved the bright colors of the paint he was used to working with. 

Those stones of bright, vivid colors turned out to be gemstones. Over the years many other teachers including Charles Lavato from Santa Domingo Pueblo inspired Eckhardt; and taught Bruce how to roll beads. With the help of his talented teachers, Eckhardt developed and honed his own unique talent and signature style. He strives in his jewelry “to paint” with stone by capturing color and volume. It has been an evolution of many years work but ART is often like that, he says; “It becomes itself, in spite of itself.”

Today, Bruce Eckhardt’s jewelry is a marriage of his love for the feel of stone and bright colors in his paintings. Eckhardt chooses rare, high-grade stones to create his stunning pieces, which highlight the inherent beauty of the materials he uses while offering customers a piece that feels utterly close to nature. He uses only the highest quality stones in his jewelry, and has an amazing eye for style and jewelry design. 

Eckhardt states: “Bigger beads create a stunning look.”

As a premier lapidary artist Eckhardt also has collaborated with other artists both local and world-wide.  His work is analyzed and even critiqued as having been inspired byjewelryfrom the Merovingian era (or the 5th century AD). Always striving of a unique visual effect he alternates between maximizing the yield of each slab of stone to using the stone for the maximum visual effect.

His work has been collected by Rock Stars and Celebrities including; Madonna, Louis Malle, Candice Bergen, Jonnie Mitchell, Jenny Craig, ZZ Top and Santana.

About Bischoff's

Bischoff's Gallery opened in 1999. The gallery, located in historic Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona carries work by Native American, western, and southwestern artists. Known for its collection of Native American Jewelry, Bischoff's also offers a selection of Navajo rugs, kachinas, pottery, baskets, and fine art from artisans of many tribes...

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Opening Hours

Store Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

By appointment - Call 480-945-3289

Customer Service

Contact Bischoff's

Bischoff's Gallery

3925 N Brown Ave • Scottsdale, AZ • 85251

Phone: 480-946-6155

Email: sales@bischoffsgallery.com