Santa Fe Style Jewelry

There's a feeling imparted in the artistry in Santa Fe. I call it the Santa Fe style. It is hard to put your finger on it, but I'll give it a try.

Adobe

When visitors first encounter the charming village of Santa Fe, one characteristic is abundantly clear: All of the buildings are adobe.

Yes, all abodes, dwellings, even businesses are pale peach-colored, square-shaped, low-lying constructions made of clay. While the actual materials may be modern substitutes, all exhibit a color based on the rusty pink color of nature's ceramics.

And so too is the rustic color reflected in its artistry. From paintings to sculpture to woven rugs, leather goods, woolen shawls, jewelry, and women's artisanal fashions, variations of a pale pink palette permeate mostly everything.

When it comes to jewelry, the Santa Fe style is fabricated into every piece. You can tell by looking. But let me get analytical for a moment and reveal the elements that contribute to the Santa Fe style as I see it in jewelry.

Color

Santa Fe style jewelry carries the characteristic pale rusty color. It does so in the jewels, gemstones, and materials used in the piece. Stones that come to mind include carnelian, jasper, aragonite, agate, petrified wood, onyx, mookaite, and coral. That's not to say other gemstones aren't used as well, but the rusty red color predominates naturally in these stones.

Scale

Santa Fe style jewelry is larger scale. Larger than what? Well, larger in overall size, longer in length, and bulkier in its presentation on the female neck than, say, a solitaire diamond on a dainty gold chain. You get the idea. Santa Fe style makes a bold statement by just being there!

Natural

Santa Fe style is earthy. Some might say rustic. Here's where we get less analytical in describing what we mean. Elements of Santa Fe style jewelry include gemstones from the earth, rocks from the ground, natural materials found by merely looking around.

No synthetic stones or materials produced in a lab are featured in Santa Fe style jewelry. And no fancy cuts or advanced technologies are manifest in producing the artistry. No uber contemporary elements pervade mostly handmade works. Just plain old natural beauty focuses attention in Santa Fe style jewelry.

Southwestern appeal

The Santa Fe style enjoys eminent popularity among Southwesterners and locals. Of course! Fashionable folks in the region know nothing else. And it helps to have a little Indian blood in one's ancestry or cowboys among the granddads. High regard for earthly treasures and the pioneer past is mandatory.

East- and West-Coasters, urbanites, and elite sophisticates may find the Santa Fe style too brash or bold, too big, too clunky, and too monochromatic with all that large earthy redness. Even Memmay Moore admitted, "nothing like these in Boston or Tampa."

Faraway visitors may find Santa Fe style jewelry unsuitable for consistent wearing at home. But, as Memmay went on to explain, you'll "always get compliments on it." One design, and you're hooked, making a Santa Fe style wannabe out of anyone!

The Santa Fe style is observable instantly in the jewelry. See the Santa Fe Reds and Santa Fe Style Necklaces slideshows and see if you can instantly see what I mean!

Sources:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/109087/santa_fe_style_necklaces_slideshow.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/slideshow/61700/santa_fe_reds_a_slideshow_of_petrified.html