Help With Santa Fe Jewelry

Hi,
I have this earring and necklace set and trying to figure out the marks. On the earrings they have Joanna Charlie, Calvin Begay, TSF, copyright symbol and sterling along the edge. The necklace is marked Joanna Charlie, Dine (accent symbol over the 'e', TSF, copyright symbol and sterling.
I can't find any information on Joanna Charlie or Dine. I did find an article on fake Calvin Begay pieces, but I believe from reading the article they are unsigned pieces being sold as his work.
I was surprised the earrings are clip-on, do they still make them? Also, what are the stones?
Any information appreciated.
thanks for looking

 

The stones look like man made opal.

 

thank-you Holly!

 

I found this piece of information on Native American jewelry.org (copied below) - looks like the other names on the pieces are studio colleagues who do some work on the pieces
As a designer, and a "hands-on" maker of jewelry, Calvin often signs his work and often includes the
signature of one or more of his studio colleagues who do some of the silver smithing, inlay work and lapidary finishing in carrying out his designs. For an extended period, Calvin had his studio in Gallup at "A Touch of Santa Fe." During that time, he occasionally did not sign his work but relied the TSF stamp to be his halllmark.

Sometime around the end of 2006, Calvin terminated his association with TSF and discontinued use of that hallmark on his work, although "A Touch of Santa Fe" continued to use the hallmark. As a result, a bonafide Calvin piece may or may not be signed by him or carry the TSF imprint.

 

maybe the opal is better than man made.....
this one says fire opals....
but...who can tell anything from just a photo......!!

 

Thanks Komokwa. I will stop by the pawn shop tomorrow and get the fellow to have a look, I don't know the difference.

 

And "Diné" is simply the tribal affiliation, the word in their own language for "the people," that many prefer rather than "Navajo."

 

Thank-you Taupou!

 

"Fire opal" a term used by someone who knows nothing about opals.Fire opal is an opal with a red/orange or yellow base color and may or may not have flashes of color.

 

"Fire opal" a term used by someone who knows nothing about opals."

"Fire opal is an opal with a red/orange or yellow base color and may or may not have flashes of color."

Really ....did you just say that......

 

I'm looking at the ceiling.......I think I laughed so hard I fell off my chair !!

 

Yes, they are man made opals. You will also find the terms synthetic opals or Gilson opals. You can tell when you move the stone a bit, or when you study several photo's of the same piece. Even though the coloured dots may not appear every time, they do stay in the same place, in the same arrangement, whatever the angle.
In a natural opal it is hard to find the same flash or pattern again, it keeps changing.
If the opals in your set were real, they would be classed as pinpoint or pinfire opals.
Native American jewellery makers use a lot of Gilson opals nowadays.

Labs are still trying to perfect opal 'growing'. There will probably come a time when the above way of telling the difference won't work anymore.

These are fire opals, regular quality:


This is a precious fire opal, gemstone quality:

 

Great information, thank-you AJ

 

you sure you want to be using the term...fire opal ??

 

Sorry, that is what they're called. Ok, I propose we use the Dutch word, vuuropaal.

 

I like the Dutch word better.....

 

So do I, the Dutch word it is then.

 

That's definitely synthetic or lab opal. Gilson? Maybe, but only some synthetics are Gilson. The lab opal is pretty and has a following of its own.