Los Castillo Mexican mixed metals and ancient bead Bracelet

Every now and again, I will bump into a piece of Mexican jewelry incorporating an ancient artifact. Be that clay masks, carved little effigies or beads, they are always a treat and a source of great excitement. And when that piece is also signed by one of the big Taxco workshops, like the bracelet at hand, then it’s a real holiday! Out of their “mixed metals” line, this Los Castillo silver, brass and copper hinged bracelet is literally built around an amazing, silky smooth agate bead. Dark, dark green mottled with black, the bead is obviously hand-carved and not absolutely round. Unfortunately the pin that goes through its hole to attach the bracelet’s two wings to it does not allow us to see how it was drilled yet I do suspect that this is indeed an ancient bead. What I really love, however, is the marriage of the stone’s antiquity with the metalwork’s modernist minimalism. Could have not expected less from the Los Castillo…

Size / Weight: 7” inner circumference (clasped); the bead is 1” in diameter; 49.2 grams

Hallmarks / Date: workshop’s signature as shown as well as “HECHO EN MEXICO”, Eagle 15 assay mark and des no 1; 1950s-60s

Condition: excellent vintage with a gorgeous stone, beautifully glowing patina, quite rare with a very slick, mod design, with no damage or repairs noted

Inv# 15673