Beautiful antique turquoise necklace

Hello, I recently received this beautiful necklace from my grandmother. She told me that my grandfather traded a gun for the necklace in Indiana in 1960. That is all the information I have if anyone knows more about the history of the necklace or the worth I would love to learn about it! Thank you in advance for any information!

 

Naja/squash blossom necklace with turquoise.Construction is "rough" probably reservation made with a handheld propane plumbers torch.Since it is dated before 1960 but not 100 years old it is not considered an antique.

 

May or may not be sterling. Any markings.
What does the clasp look like?

 

most likely sterling....

 

Welcome Brittney, wonderful story and a beautiful Navajo squash blossom necklace.
It does look 60s or a bit older. Not very much older, since the stones are colour-matched. As Holly said, not antique. But a nice age.
It could be sterling, but as cluttered implied, it may not be. Coin silver, of .900 fineness, was also used at the time, and sometimes even slightly lower grades. Sterling is .925 silver fineness.

Both the naja - the crescent shape, and the squash blossoms - in this case the links with the petal-shapes, are ancient European and Moorish symbols, brought to the Southwest by the Conquistadores.
Here is some info from "Navajo Silver - a Brief History of Navajo Silversmithing" by Arthur Woodward:

 

Here is a picture of the clasp!

 

The clasp looks very much like what is on the one I recently bought.

Mine is Not sterling, has dyed howlite. Suspect mine is from the 60s-70s period, based on items at the estate sale and what was told to me.

The metal color on yours looks like mine, rather greyish without the shine that silver has.

Had mine been silver it would have been worth a huge hunk of change.
As it is, I priced mine in the $300 range and will end up taking an offer. It's going to take awhile to sell, and will probably go to someone who wants a squash blossom, but can't afford the real deal. It looks very impressive when tried on.

 

The hook clasp is a pretty common closure on SW NA jewellery, as is the double ring.
NA liquid silver necklace:

 

but the thin chain running thru the beads is older than that liquid silver would be....

 

It is, this liquid silver necklace dates from the 80s, if I remember correctly.
But the hook clasp is a very old method, and still used today.

 

The OP's necklace has "Navajo pearl" beads or bench beads and the naja is hand made; odds are it's silver of some grade or other since no one in their right minds would go to that much trouble for nickel. I was thinking Grandpa had good taste; the necklace is probably worth more than the gun would be, and even if not he still had good taste. It's not the most refined piece, but it's funky. I'd polish it up a bit and wear it to dinner.

 

Brittney, if. you choose Full Image when you upload your photos, they will appear in your post and not as tiny links.

 

That’s good to know thank you!