October 4th, 2010
On Monday afternoon, Chuck and I decided to
check out some local Navajo (Dineh) artists.
As soon as we pulled in, we saw a sign telling us
there was silversmiths here. I have a beautiful, old
sandcast bracelet with a huge piece of turquoise
in it. I bought it at least 30+ years ago when I
was living in and exploring the American Southwest.
I was living in the back of my GMC pickup truck
in a slide in camper for almost 6 years! I bought
this bracelet way back then! A few years after I bought it, I broke it... I mean I totally broke the
silver part of the bracelet near the top! Torn
all the way through! I'll spare you the long story!
At this intersection between Monument Valley and
Gouldings Utah is a small mall made up of artists.
As soon as I saw the silversmith sign, I asked Chuck
"wonder if they could fix my bracelet?" I have been
trying all this time to find someone who would be willing to attempt a repair. Delicate part was removing the turquoise which looked like
I may have cracked it also. I first spoke to
Marjorie Gray, a silversmith in her own right.
She spoke confidently of her husbands skills and
told us to come back at 3pm.
Meet Emmanuel Gray. He created this beautiful
buffalo and feather necklace. His work
speaks volumes about how capable he is!
But sandcast? An old art that you don't see much
of anymore. He was forthright and honest
from the beginning! Promising nothing, hoping
for everything to go right!
He called about 3 hours later..... turquoise out
safe and in one piece! Now to repair the silver!
He did it! He fixed my bracelet! He had it
all ready for me by 11 am the next morning!
In less than 24 hours he fixed what has taken me
almost 20 years to get fixed! My beautiful
antique sandcast silver and turquoise bracelet!
It was broken clear through where the arrow
is pointing! I wish I had a before and
an after photo! It was a jagged rip through
the silver before Emmanuel fixed it!
Now it looks brand new!
If you or anyone you know needs some
silver repair work done, or if you just want to
order something special for somebody special, Emmanuel and Marjorie Gray are the
two folks I recommend highly!
Contact info:
PO Box 360228
Monument Valley UT 84536
(435) 727-3479
Thank you soooooo much Emmanuel! My bracelet
and I are getting used to each other again!
It is heavier than I remember and I this I
may have bent it out of shape a bit when I
slammed the truck hood down on it! But it
is repaired as good as new and we will become
good friends again!
dear Mr gray, i buy in January2009 in your little shop on the site of Monument valley,a magnificent bracelet,but unfortunately my daugther lost him..i'm so sorry and sad because this bracelet is for me a very good memory about my visit in your country..you are a really grand artist Mister Gray..may be one day i can retourn see you again!!Bonjour de Bordeaux -France
ReplyDeleteI believe that it was in 1991, "30" years ago, that I stopped to look at jewelry at a roadside table at the intersection of Highway 163 and the entrance to the Monument Valley Tribal Park. I purchased a large, complex silver bracelet that has six pieces of turquoise, five pieces of coral, many silver balls, and eight wire circles, and a bear claw resulting in a magnificent bracelet. Fast forward about 20-25 years and I am inside an air conditioned building at the same location. The salesman seems to be starring at my bracelet so I said, "One of your local silversmiths, Emanuael Gray, made this bracelet." He replied, "I am Emanuel Gray. I removed the bracelet so that he could inspect it better, he pointed out some things about the bracelet that I did not know, and he said something that
ReplyDeletehaunts me to this day. After I told him that I lived in Southern California do not wear the bracelet that often,, he told me that if the bracelet ever found it's way back to him, that he would wear it every day. I just wish that my comment entry provided me an opportunity to share a photo of the bracelet. Emanuel is a wonderful silversmith with a real talent to design jewelry! He is also a heck of a nice guy. . . .and married to a lovely lady. Dougger in Monarch Beach, CA.
I have a beautiful Hopi bracelet that I have treasured for years and never took it off. My grandaughter and I were laying outside watching the stars, looking for meteor showers as a deer came running through the yard. I tripped over my grandaughter and fell and ripped the cuff off of my wrist, bending it. I thought if anyone tried to fix it it would break. My friend said she knew someone who could fix it and I am so pleasantly surprised that he did such an excellent job! Thank you Emmanuel Grey!
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