Dig It - 6/16/26

Recollections Episode 3, "The 1980s"
Well Seekers, in the winter of 1979, I started graduate school in anthropology and museum studies at New York University. I was on my own, and to earn money, I worked part-time for tribal art and folk art dealers. Most of these guys did not know much about Native American art, history, or culture. On weekends I would go to all the flea markets and antique shows to further subsidize my income. I did find some early Navajo silver, but not a lot. I remember that really nice ingot and turquoise bracelets from the 1920s and '30s ran about $100 to $250. I found a few late 19th-century ingot bracelets but nothing spectacular. 

Then one day in 1982, a friend who worked for Tony Berlant showed me three fabulous bracelets. One of them is pictured here. It may be the best bracelet I ever bought and the first one I ever wore. The three bracelets together could not have cost me more than a grand. This was just about the time that early silver was becoming “hip,” especially with the folk art crowd and with dealers and collectors. I think a really good bracelet would have been around $400 to $500, and a first-phase belt was between $1,000 and $2,500. 

I remember in 1985, I took a first-phase belt down to Ralph Lauren; it must have been around $2,000. I’m not sure when Doug Bihlmaier started working for Ralph, but I believe it was in the 1980s. Doug became the buyer and curator of Ralph Lauren’s “Western" look, and these two individuals have probably done more for the vintage Native American jewelry business than anyone. Stay tuned for Episode 4 when I reveal all the Secrets of Antique Native American Jewelry Dealers, the Secret Handshake, Code Words, and Arcane Knowledge. All will be revealed! -Lonesome