Red Coral 10 Strand Necklace

• 30″ length, 10 stand 
• Material: Red coral and pen shell
• Waxed sinew

Artist Lester Abeyta

Lester is a talented award winning jeweler known for his lightweight tradition tab-style earrings and beaded necklaces consisting of fine cuts of colorful stones and shells. Lester is from the Santo Domingo Pueblo in New Mexico and follows the traditional techniques taught by his skillful father, Richard. His father worked with traditional tools such as shaping with sandstone, polishing with beeswax and deer hide. Inspired by his father’s methods, Lester’s method has evolved since then and continues creating genuine and time-honored jewelry. Lester enjoys working along-side his father, sister and now teaching his own son the tradition of jewelry making. He starts his beaded necklaces by slicing the stones and shells, drills the pieces, strings them on a wire, grinds the stone or shells, shaping them into round beads and finishes off by polishing the beads. Lester believes each piece of jewelry has its own distinct spirit and life, it forms a communication and a link between humans and the earth.