Rare NAVAJO CODE TALKER Lloyd Oliver AUTHENTICATED sterling watch cuff OLD PAWN

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Rare NAVAJO CODE TALKER Lloyd Oliver AUTHENTICATED sterling watch cuff OLD PAWN:
$599.00

MEMORIAL DAY SALE - $50 off. THIS IS AN AUTHENTICATED NAVAJO CODE TALKERS collector\'s item. This RARE and very collectiblesterling silver watch cuff was made by one of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers, Lloyd Oliver. This is aunique opportunity to own an historic, museum-worthy native American hero\'s showpiece. It is substantial (82.8 grams).

This 1950ssterling silver watch cuff is set with gorgeous spiderweb turquoise and authentic Mediterranean coral. It is signed and was handcrafted by Navajo Code Talker Lloyd Oliver (deceased 2011) andauthenticated Nov. 18, 2017 at Phoenix\'s Heard Museum at their Museum Council\'s semi-annual Native American Art Appraisal Day. (If you are looking for an extraordinary gift, Father\'s Day is June 17. The piece is beautiful displayed on black velvet in a simple black framed case (about $20 at Michael\'s or $50 if custom framed. There are also, finally, several fine books telling the long-secret story of the Navajo Code Talker\'s. We suggest the one by Chester Nez, who served with Lloyd Oliver as one ouf the 29 original Code Talker\'s.)

This is only the second Lloyd Oliver made piece of jewelry we have found in 30 years of collecting. If you have not read the story of the Navajo Code Talkers’ heroic role as US Marines on the front lines in World War II, it’s an inspiring tale. Not to sound melodramatic, but finding in old pawn, hand polishing, then getting this bracelet by Mr. Oliver authenticated at the Heard Museum felt like an honor. The bravery of the Code Talkers was kept secret by the Defense Department (and the young soldiers) for 23 years after they returned home after the war — with no medals or other recognition, although they were later credited with saving thousands of American lives.

Mr. Oliver, an accomplished silversmith for over 50 years after his Marine Corps service, was one of the original Navajo Code Talkers whose secret Navajo-language-based code used was never broken by the enemy. In 1968, the U.S. government unclassified the secret Code Talker mission of the U.S. Marine Corps.

WE WILL SHIP THIS ICONIC NAVAJO CODE TALKER MADE WATCH CUFF TO YOU IN THE U.S. BY USPS Priority Mail at cost. If you prefer to ship with full insurance, please select Federal Express at cost.PLEASE NOTE OUR 100 PERCENT PERFECT response SINCE JOINING IN 2004. We also ship internationally with International USPS Priority Mail at cost or \'s excellent Global Shippingprogramto countries listed below.

This historic signed sterling watch cuff was designed and crafted by Lloyd Oliver in the 1950s.The two spiderweb, vivid blue turquoise stones and the two natural coral cabochons are set in heavy, plain silver bezels. The cuff is decorated with hand-crafted silver balls between the stones and raised prayer feathers radiating from both ends of the cuff.The inside measure is 6 inches with a gap of 1 1/8 inch; 1.25 inches tall. The space for the watch, slightly adjustable, is 1.25 inches wide; it would accept watch lugs 6/8 inch long.(The Heard expert advised us not to replace the small missing fan-shaped silver piece that curves over the attachment tubes for a watch in case a collector wants to display this as a piece of historic Native American art. Should you want to wear the cuff with a watch attached, we suggest getting a Navajo silversmith to make a replacement piece and solder it as the other piece was attached by Mr. Oliver (we can suggest two in Phoenix or there are many in Gallup, NM. There are also replicas of the Code Talkers\' Congressional Medal available that could be displayed instead of a watch on this cuff.)

Another Lloyd Oliver-made turquoise and silver bracelet is on prominent display in a permanent exhibit at the Heard Museum in Phoenix devoted to the Navajo Code Talkers. The age and authenticity of this piece was verified at the Heard Museum\'s semi-annual Appraisal Day on Nov. 11, 2017, authenticated as Lloyd Oliver made, circa 1950s, sterling and genuine turquoise and coral cabochons. (A copy of that evaluation will be included upon request with the bracelet). 

On July 26, 2001, President George W. Bush personallypresented Mr. Oliver and four other surviving original U.S. MARINE CORPS code talkers with the Congressional Gold Medal, America\'s highest civilian recognition. None of the original 29 Navajo Code Talkers survive today.

HISTORY OF THE ARTIST and the CODE TALKERS: Lloyd Oliver, like many young Navajos, enlisted in the Marine Corps to serve in WW II; he had just celebrated his 20th birthday.In 1942, when the U.S. war effort in the Pacific was not going well, 29 Navajo soldiers, including a cousin of Mr. Oliver, were recruited by a Marine officer whose missionary parents had raised him in Navajo country. He asked them to develop a sophisticated code for the U.S. military based on the Navajo language for top-secret military communications. Their code was never broken by the Japanese and is credited with turning the tide of the war in the Pacific Theater.  

A handsome, young Corporal LloydOliver returned from the Marine Corps in 1945 to his home in Shiprock, AZ, on the Navajo Nation\'s land. Jobs were scarce, so a few years later he moved to Phoenix where he learned silversmithing, developing a distinctive style popular with collectors.

Many of Lloyd Oliver\'s later creations were sold through Atkinson\'s Trading Post in Scottsdale, AZ. He worked as a silversmith well into his 70s and his son, the late Dan Oliver, also became a popular Scottsdale-based silversmith. Lloyd Oliver\'s silverwork is rarely comes on the market and is considered highly collectible. 

A LITTLE MORE CODE TALKERS\' HISTORY: When the secret Defense Department files on the Code Talkers were unclassified in 1968, their role as heroes whose code work saved many American lives in the Pacific was revealed. The Navajo Marines had been ordered not to discuss their military intelligence work when they were discharged after World War II. Incredibly, although their ranks eventually grew to 400, serving in all six Marine divisions, apparently none of the Code Talkers discussed their critical service in the war. Nothing on their heroism was published until the Marine Corps documents were released.

In 1981, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed August 14 of every year as national Code Talkers Day.

In 2002, a movie starring Nicholas Cage and Mark Ruffalo called Windtalkers chronicled the Code Talkers\' story. A documentary, Top Secret Mission: The Navajo Code Talkers, was also released in 2002. Moving interviews with many of the Code Talkers in their later years are also available on YouTube. The death of the last Navajo Code Talker, Chester Nez, is also memorialized on YouTube. Mr. Nez and several of the other Code Talkers wrote books about their work in World War II. The website of the National Museum of the American Indian and numerous history websites also furnish additional details of their unique military service.

Lloyd Oliver was born on April 23, 1923, into the Folded Arms Clan, and born for the Red House Clan. He graduated from Shiprock Agricultural High School in 1941 and at age 20 enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he was recruited to be a Code Talker.

When he died at age 88 in 2011, memorial services were held at the Gila Crossing Presbyterian Church, southeast of Komatke, AZ, where a friend and fellow Marine sang the Marine Hymn in Navajo. Mr. Oliver was buried, per his request, at the Gila River Indian Reservation.

A monument to the Navajo Code Talkers ( see last photo) featuring a 12-foot sculpture has been erected at the capitol of the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, AZ. A twin statue and memorial is located at the Wesley Bolin Plaza in Phoenix.

International buyers will receive this iconic bracelet by USPS International Priority Mail at cost to countries listed below. Or your may select \'s Global Shipping Program. Although we do not accept returns unless the item is not as pictured and described, this item is covered by \'s excellent Buyer Protection Program.