Vintage Comstock Sterling silver Belt buckle

Description: Vintage Comstock Sterling silver Belt buckle. Nice old vintage buckle, light surface wear, no bends or dents. Hand engraved, 3" x 2", fits a 1.5" belt. 39.7 grams. It’s probably safe to say that even Henry Comstock—or George Hearst, John Mackay, Mark Twain, Julia Bullette or any of the myriad historical figures who descended upon Nevada’s historic Comstock Lode——ever dreamed of hanging something like the “Blue Diamond” on their waists. Not liable to make anyone blue, it’s a hand-filigreed sterling silver buckle set, hand-engraved and antiqued with 1.5 carats of radiated blue and yellow diamonds. Retailing for $9,500, it’s among the many hand-crafted products created by Comstock Heritage, which bills itself ad “America’s Oldest Western Silversmiths” and is based in Carson City, Nev. “Really,” President James Stegman says of his company, “there weren’t any buckles made before us.” Then he breaks out laughing. But the boast isn’t quite all comical. After all, Comstock Heritage’s history dates more than a century, and few silversmiths, then and now, have earned a reputation that matches these artisans. The biggest surprise you’ll find at Comstock Heritage, Stegman says, is … well … Stegman. “I would have been voted in high school the least likely to work with my hands,” he says. The company began in San Francisco in 1886 when J.C. Irvine partnered with a man named Jachens (his first name has been lost to history) and began making brass and silver conchos (and later badges) at the J.C. Irvine Company (later Irvine & Jachens) on Mission Street. In the 1920s, Christian Stegman bought the company, doing silverwork for saddles for Keyston Brothers and others until parade saddles fell out of vogue in the late 1950s. By 1971, Christian Stegman’s sons had divided the business, with Howard Stegman pushing silver buckles instead of badges and moving his company, rechristened Comstock Silversmiths, to Carson City. Irvine & Jachens, by the way, still makes badges outside of San Francisco. In the ’70s, my dad was doing literally hundreds of buckles a month,” James Stegman says, “inexpensive rodeo buckles, good buckles, handmade 20-40-40-dollar wholesale buckles. It was something I never really thought I would do.” Caught up in the Yuppie movement of the go-go 1980s, Stegman had no interest in following his father in the buckle-making business. Since age 7, he had planned on going to law school, and while attending the University of Washington, he worked for attorneys. But then he realized something: “It’s not the noble love of the law and justice. It’s a business, and it’s a hard business, and I thought, ‘You know, I can make this type of money doing something else.’” In 1990 James Stegman moved his family back to Carson City and worked for his father, and soon began pushing his father to try more expensive looks, using gemstones and better materials. Three years later, he got the go-ahead and Comstock Heritage was relaunched.

Price: 346.72 USD

Location: Austin, Texas

End Time: 2024-11-28T01:26:06.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD