Master craftsman Julian Lovato was born in 1925 to a family of bead makers in New Mexico’s Santo Domingo Pueblo. Today, he is well-known for his stunning jewelry pieces, which are highly sought after and cherished by collectors. If you want to add new pieces to your jewelry box, you can’t go wrong with Julian Lovato. Here are just some of the reasons why this artist’s creations are considered timeless treasures:
- Each piece is handmade the traditional way – Julian Lovato is considered one of the pioneers of Native American jewelry along with Mark Chee, Joseph Quintana, Charles Loloma, Preston Monongye, and Kenneth Begay.
- He is influenced by the masters – His grandfather and father worked with shell, coral, and turquoise to create necklaces for trading and ceremonial use. Julian started gold and silver smithing as an apprentice for Frank Patania, an Italian jeweler who owns the famous Thunderbird shop, which opened in 1948. He was colleagues with Joseph Quintana, another famous Native American jeweler from Cochiti Pueblo. Despite working with the best, Julian is able to create his own distinctive style, which is elegant and seamless with their raised and enveloped fine gem grade coral and turquoise stones.
- His style is one-of-a-kind - Patania is one of the major influences in Julian Lovato’s style of jewelry making. The result is a clean and elegant look with an unusual touch that provides a raised, dimensional design to each piece. And once Julian began working with gold, his jewelry reached a status that is known for possessing an expressive balance between stone and metal.
- Julian uses only the highest-quality stones – He is known for the quality of the coral and turquoise he uses on his pieces. Some of his necklaces even use rare gem grade natural Nevada Blue turquoise cabochons. Julian personally collected the stones himself in the 1990s, and they are so rare that you can hardly find them in the market these days. These stones were naturally formed in the mine where they came from, featuring complex gold, chocolate, and reddish brown spiderweb matrixes. In one of his necklaces, Julian set the stones in an austere and clean ‘Pueblo style’ design, which he himself created in the 1940s.
About the Company:
Turquoise Direct is one of the most prominent sellers of authentic handmade turquoise jewelry, designed by award winning Native American artists, including Julian Lovato, Harry H. Begay, Arland Ben, Aaron Anderson, Al Joe, Thomas Jim, Tommy Jackson, Calvin Martinez and many others who place only the finest natural American turquoise in beautiful contemporary and traditional silver and gold jewelry. With an amazing selection of collectible Native American jewelry from bracelets to earrings, necklaces, and rings to buckles and bolos by some of the most collectible and highly esteemed Native American artists in the Southwest, Turquoise Direct is the place to go for the finest online experience on the web.