Chris Yazzie — Navajo Silversmith

Chris Yazzie — Navajo Silversmith

Chris Yazzie makes big jewelry. Not merely in physical scale — though his extra-wide cuffs are among the most architecturally ambitious pieces in the Navajo silversmithing tradition — but in ambition, in stone selection, and in the boldness of his design choices. A Yazzie cuff commands attention the moment it enters a room. His work is not for the timid, and collectors who appreciate genuinely powerful Western jewelry seek it out accordingly.

About the Artist

Chris Yazzie is a Diné (Navajo) silversmith who produces some of the most visually commanding jewelry in the contemporary Native American market. His practice spans cuffs, pendants, and multi-stone cluster work, with a particular focus on extra-wide cuff bracelets that showcase large, exceptional stones in settings built to match their presence. Yazzie works in heavy-gauge sterling silver and selects stones with a collector's eye — his preference runs to pieces that make a statement both materially and aesthetically.

Turquoise Mustang has carried Chris Yazzie's work for years, and the pieces that arrive from him consistently represent some of the highest-value single items in the inventory.

Stylistic Hallmarks

Chris Yazzie's work is defined by a set of recurring choices that are unmistakably his:

  • Extra-wide bands — Yazzie's cuffs are wider than most. Where a standard Navajo cuff might run three-quarters to one inch in width, Yazzie frequently works at one and a half to two inches, creating a wrist presence that is architectural in its scale.
  • Heavy-gauge silver throughout — There is no thin metal in a Yazzie piece. The band, the bezel, the accents — all are formed from heavy-gauge sterling silver that communicates substance and longevity.
  • Sawtooth bezels and rope wire detail — Yazzie favors traditional bezel treatments — sawtooth, rope wire, and scalloped shadowbox — that frame stones with maximum visual definition.
  • Multi-stone cluster work — His cluster cuffs feature large numbers of individually hand-set stones — 23-stone turquoise clusters, 7-stone Royston layouts — where each stone has been selected for its contribution to the composition as a whole.
  • Unconventional stone cuts — Yazzie is not limited to oval cabochons. His Bumblebee Jasper cuff, for instance, features an elongated pointed oval — a football-shaped cut — that would be considered unusual in most silversmithing contexts. He cuts or selects stones that suit the design, not the design that suits the stone.

Stones and Materials

The range of stones Chris Yazzie works with reflects his appetite for variety and quality:

  • White Buffalo — The high-contrast Nevada stone with dramatic black matrix on creamy white ground. Yazzie's White Buffalo cluster cuffs are among the most striking pieces in the format, with each stone individually selected for its matrix character.
  • Royston turquoise — From Nevada's Royston Mining District. Yazzie's 7-stone Royston cuff brings together seven stones from one of the most collectible American turquoise sources, each with its own geological fingerprint.
  • Dry Creek turquoise — One of the rarest turquoise varieties in the American West — pale blue with delicate cream matrix from a small Nevada deposit. Yazzie treats this stone with the restraint it demands: a four-strand twisted wire band, a precise hand-cut bezel, nothing competing with the stone's quiet presence.
  • Bumblebee Jasper — The vivid Indonesian stone with bands of yellow, orange, and charcoal, found only near volcanic vents. An unusual choice for a Navajo silversmith — which is precisely the point.
  • Mixed natural turquoise — His 23-stone cluster cuffs use hand-selected natural turquoise in a full-spectrum range from sky blue to deep green, each stone chosen for contrast and character.
  • Number 8 turquoise — From Nevada's Number 8 Mine, prized for its golden spiderweb matrix. Yazzie's #8 pendant demonstrates his range beyond the cuff format.

Collector Relevance

Chris Yazzie occupies a specific and important position in the contemporary Native American jewelry market: he is the maker of bold, large-scale cuffs that serious collectors of Western jewelry want on their wrists. His pieces are not background jewelry. They are the statement piece in a collection, the item that draws the first comment, the bracelet that defines an outfit. For collectors building a representation of what contemporary Navajo silversmithing can achieve at its most ambitious, Yazzie is essential.

His extra-wide cuffs in particular — the White Buffalo ovals, the Royston clusters, the mixed turquoise arrangements — represent a category where very few silversmiths work and even fewer work well. The scale demands proportional confidence and technical precision simultaneously. Yazzie delivers both.

Chris Yazzie at Turquoise Mustang

Turquoise Mustang carries a curated selection of Chris Yazzie's current work. These are substantial pieces at substantial prices, and they sell to collectors who understand exactly what they are acquiring.

Browse the full Native American Collection or contact us to be notified when new Chris Yazzie pieces arrive.