A LITTLE ABOUT FRED HARVEY:

English born Fred Harvey was considered the founding father of the American service industry. Harvey’s main goal as an entrepreneur was to provide good food and good service for railroad travelers. He was extremely successful at that and essentially developed America’s first chain restaurants – Harvey House. There is so much to be learned about this incredible man who really took 'everything southwestern' to a whole new level.

Opening up the west to tourism, he significantly upgraded lodging and food along the Santa Fe Railway, where he developed special stops for paying customers to experience Native American culture where they could buy Puebloan pots, jewelry & whatever else was Native made along the way..

His picturesque train rides went as far as customers having their meals being served on dishes with ancient "Mimbre" pottery designs that were developed by Mary Coulter & between this interior experience & the arts the tourists would find along the stops, really completed the whole southwestern Native American experience.

Being his customers wanted to bring a piece of the southwest home with them, Harvey found that traditional Navajo jewelry was too heavy, so he developed his own line, which was considered "Tourist" jewelry & is now some of the most sought after jewelry of any era. It was made with both coin silver & or sterling & were more than not, very light weight.

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THE CUFF:

Looking at this cuff, is like taking a time machine back into the history of Navajo silversmithing. Darkened by naturally developed dark patina, seems to only enhance the beauty of the green turquoise in this.. Being that it's at the 100 year old mark, these stones might have been bluer or maybe a lighter green when it was new.

The center & the 2 side sections sit on a 1" wide quad split shank to accommodate the width of the 3 sections. It has somewhat of a ornate feel due to the embellishing that they added. The cuff tapers to 1/4" & along the sides are stamped designs. I want to mention that Native American symbols played a dominant role in Harvey jewelry and so they started stamping Native symbols into their designs. The difference in the stamp work then & the stamp work you see now in the latter years, is that there was real meaning behind each stamp back then, whereas now it's for design & to enhance the beauty of the sterling.(See photos5 & 6)

This is a lightweight piece that is easily adjustable & if you need to adjust it, you would have to go easy because of the light gauge used, since you can weaken the integrity of the metal & then loses it's shape..This is made for a small boned wrist size & one that is not so 'fleshy' since it has a tiny 3/4" gap opening (A fleshier wrist would need a wider gap to put it on) Just remember, the 5-1/2" interior measurement doesn't change with adjustment, only the gap!

If you need help,please don't hesitate to contact me!! Please click on this link to see if this will fit: How To Fit A Cuff, Cuffs are the only bracelet that have to fit just right, so it's best you know your wrist size.

**Take a piece of history home!**