Meet American Indian Jewelry Debbie Silversmith

Debbie Silversmith is a Navajo jewelry store from Steamboat, Arizona. Granddaughter of legendary Navajo goldsmith Kenneth Begay, Debbie Silversmith has had big shoes to fill. Debbie has filled those shoes wonderfully with her own contemporary Native American jewelry, which is special adaptations of her grandfather’s flawless designs.

Debbie Silversmith was born on the Navajo reservation in 1957. As a child and the oldest granddaughter, Debbie was blessed with the opportunity to spend a good amount of time with Kenneth Begay, really getting to know him and learning the art of jewelry from him. By the age of 12, Debbie Silversmith had learned to make her own silver beads entirely by hand, a tradition she continues to this day. Debbie recalls that her grandfather emphasized technical perfection and the use of clean lines while teaching her ancient techniques such as tuff plaster. Especially influenced by Kenneth Begay’s famous swirls, which represent “water and life”, Debbie loves to recreate them in her own jewelry.

When Kenneth Begay passed away in 1977, Debbie Silversmith received his prized tools, including many of his stamps, which he still uses today. Since Debbie’s first instruction has stuck with her, she still proudly creates her jewelry by hand. Living on her grandfather’s former estate, Debbie still digs tuff for her tufa cast jewelry from her own backyard, and carefully solders and sandpaper to make her bead necklaces. Don’t let the “silversmith” last name fool you, as Debbie has recently embarked on using gold and silver to make her jewelry. Debbie creates just about any type of jewelry you can imagine, from earrings to bracelets, bowling pins to concho belts. Often adorned with natural turquoise pieces from many different turquoise mines, Debbie’s jewelry is fantastic. Even more fantastic is that Debbie Silversmith jewelry is quite affordable and therefore accessible for almost all budgets.

Debbie Silversmith comes from a family endowed with a remarkable sense of design, and has been able to use that inherited sense of design to create her own dazzling jewelry.