There Was Only Enough Turquoise for 100 Pairs of These $3,000 Glasses
Bo Joe, a Native American artist from the Diné (Navajo) and Mouache Kaputa (Uté) tribes, could hardly believe that he’d discovered an abundance of rare high-grade Apache Blue turquoise in a small mine in rural Nevada. He couldn’t have wished for a better material to use for his collaboration with the artisanal eyewear label Jacques Marie Mage.
“The opportunity we received with the Apache Blue turquoise is unprecedented,” said Bo Joe, who works with turquoise gemstones daily in his traditional silversmithing practice. “The earth literally gave us something that you can’t ever explain or ask for. It’s a very special circumstance.”
Turquoise with such a rich blue color is already a rarity. Finding it in such large quantities is something that “might not occur again for generations,” claims Jacques Marie Mage. But sourcing the turquoise was only the beginning, because it still had to be turned into something wearable.
Jacques Marie Mage x Bo Joe is a seven-piece drop consisting of two sunglass styles, each available in three colors and limited to 100 pieces, offered alongside Bo Joe’s handmade jewelry.
As with all Jacques Marie Mage glasses, the two pairs of shades are created in a 300-step process utilizing the skills of almost 100 artisans. Although this time, there is an extra artisan involved: Bo Joe, who created symbols central to Diné culture from gold, sterling silver, and the Lone Mountain Turquoise gemstones.
This beautifully detailed handiwork comes at a cost, even by Jacques Marie Mage’s high standards. Both the angular Dinè glasses and the more classic T’iis Názbas model are priced at $3,095.
Bo Joe’s handmade jewelry is priced similarly. Including a bracelet punctuated by Apache Blue turquoise inlays and a sterling silver ring that frames a large piece of Apache Blue turquoise, jewelry prices range from $1,350 to $3,500.
Everything in the collaboration, except for a sterling silver brooch, focuses on showcasing the natural beauty of the rare-to-find turquoise stone. After all, it could be generations before we see turquoise like this again.
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