Carved by Ronnie Upshaw during the early 80s.  Ronnie was one of the well-known Upshaw brothers in Gallup, NM.  The brothers, under the early guidance of their dad, Frank Turpen and his partner Stan Bartos, and surrogate brother Johnny Sheyka from Zuni, revolutionized fetish carving in the Indian business.  They began carving as teenagers in the 70s.  Ronnie was a large boy who could create delicate carvings despite his massive hands.   His hands were like small hams.  He loved to challenge himself with carving such as he did with his fine hummingbirds and these amber beads.  (I am using this same narrative for the amber beads listing as well.)  When he put a small hummingbird on his finger, it would literally disappear while he carved it.  Often, he burned or cut his fingers and had to use SuperGlue to keep working.  He seldom used jewelers sticks like the Zunis do for delicate work.  Once carved, he had to drill each piece so that it could be strung for a necklace.  Many pieces broke in the process, which factor into carving costs; especially with expensive Bering Sea amber.

   He took about six months to carve this graduated bead choker and the amber fetish necklace, which he worked on simultaneously (Fetish piece is also listed on eBay).  These beads were challenging because of the size (1/8" to 3/8") and the uniformity in graduation.  They are disk-shaped.  He put each piece of amber on fine wire to shape the beads.  I watched him throughout the process as he created these pieces in addition to his regular carving.   Nobody could carve such delicate pieces as Ronnie Upshaw.  These are so extraordinary that I never offered them for sale.  They have been in storage since the late 80s.  The necklace is a graduated strand with ~138 beads.  The total length is 17” and it hangs as ~8”. The silver cones have not been polished.  

  There aren’t many amber fetish carvings because of the difficulty with carving.  A Google search can explain better than me.  Pricing is subjective.  There is nothing with which to compare.  I was always in the wholesale business and have priced accordingly.  Price is based upon cost per bead and the unique quality.

   Ronnie passed away in his late 30s.