Rare Van Thomas Huge Bisbee Blue Turquoise Sterling Silver Bolo Tie 1979 For Sale

This is a rare oversize vintage bolo tie from Navajo artist, Van Thomas from 10/15/1979. It’s almost 47 years old, and it’s in remarkable shape. It is a quality piece that I bought from the original owner in Phoenix, who commissioned it as a custom-crafted bolo tie. It is the largest Navajo bear claw bolo tie I have ever seen, and I have been collecting for 35 years. It is quite heavy and striking. Every time I wear it, people always comment on it.What makes it so rare is that it is the largest Bisbee Blue Turquoise from the Campbell Shaft mine in Arizona. I have seen everything that the University of Arizona has in its collection, and I bought stones from the largest private collector of Campbell Shaft Turquoise in the USA. This historical mine is part of the Warren Mining District and is recognized as the deepest mine in Bisbee, reaching a depth of 3,334 feet. The turquoise mine was a secondary operation to the Bisbee copper mine, operated by the Phelps Dodge Corporation. The vast majority of Bisbee turquoise surfaced when Phelps Dodge began open-pit mining at the site now known as the Lavender Pit. The mine has been closed since the early 1970's, so anything new coming from the mine has been scavenged from the old dumps. The corporation made no concerted effort to recover the turquoise, so almost all of it was recovered by company employees taking it out covertly in lunch boxes. Though this activity was prohibited, it was rarely enforced. For several years, through the late 1970’s, these individuals (locally known as "dumpers") were the only source for this fine turquoise. Also, during this time, Phelps Dodge began leasing out rights to individuals to mine the dumps for turquoise. However, the large majority of Bisbee turquoise was extracted during the 1950’s and 1960’s through the covert actions of miner employees. In 2004, Phelps Dodge Corporation decided to bury the old mine under hundreds of tons of dirt and rock. They felt that the miners, due to the increasing value of the turquoise, were paying too much attention to the turquoise and not enough to copper mining.The bolo is illustrated as about 9 inches from top to bottomThe width is 4 inches across
The matching Bolo Tips are 3 inches from top to bottom
The width is 1.5 inches across
I am unsure of total carat weight, but in silver and turquoise it is very heavy.In the photo, you’ll see the scale of the size.