American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture – 2013 Annual Meeting Auction
Auction Ends: Jan 14, 2013 06:30 PM CST

Jewelry

Men's Turquoise Cuff Links

Item Number
219
Estimated Value
110 USD
Sold
70 USD to Rush
Number of Bids
8  -  Bid History

Item Description

Genuine turquoise men's cuff links. The cufflinks are stamped Sterling Silver.

Item Special Note

Designed by Juan Velasco

Born in Bolivia, 1942

Studied in Bolivia and Argentina-came to the USA for college in 1961-received degree in Business in '65-US citizenship in 1966 and was also drafted that year!  Served in the US Navy '66 to '69.  Graduate school and then Wall Street 'till 1974-that was enough-moved to New Mexico "and that my friends has made all the difference."

Do in life what you really like to do-fulfillment and money will come.  My passions of life are my wife, Suzanne, and my son, Adrian, (she luckily lives here in Santa Fe with me), my heritage (the jewelry is made in Chile and finished here-it gives me a chance to visit the homeland a couple of times a year), stones (since young I have cut and worked with stones-now I use Chinese turquoise, Afghan lapis, South African sugilite, Mediterranean coral, Mexican spiny oyster shell and others), design (I do all the design work and love to have input), trees (I love to prune trees as a hobby-my next career?), and volunteer work (currently on day a week with SCORE.)

The jewelry is all handmade - the piece is first constructed in silver (gold sometimes)-the stone is then cut to fit the exact shape-it is set and the stone is then dry ground to match the silver finally it is polished.  Most pieces have hinges, which provide nice movement and flexibility.

I started this venture in 1986 and it has grown to a nice small but healthy business-I sell the jewelry to about 20 stores and keep theh price to a reasonable level.

Enjoy!

J.A. VELASCO

Donated By:

New Mexico Farm & Livestock Bureau