Southwest Theme Dancing Eagle Bolo Tie and Belt Buckle - Frank Smigel Phoenix AZ

Description

I am going to be listing a bunch of coins and miscellaneous items for my mother that my father left when he passed away.  She discovered three boxes of stuff hidden in the spare "Junk" room when she was moving out of the house.  Be sure to check back as I will be listing US Proof sets, Mint sets, and bullion silver.
You are bidding on the two piece Dancing Eagle Bolo Tie and Belt Buckle set that was made by my uncle Frank Smigel out of Phoenix AZ.  Uncle Frank was a hobbyist turned semi-pro metalsmith that mostly made rings and brooches and bolo ties.  He was always working in his garage.  He was always soldering and cutting and shaping and polishing.  I remember standing for hours watching him and thinking I would like to do that.  Of course, as a 10 year old kid, what felt like hours was probably more like 60 seconds to 2 minutes.  Well, he made enough of an impression on me that I took three semesters of metalsmithing at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.  What a great time - I digress.
The set weighs just under 10 ounces.  Bolo tie measures 4" tall and 4" across and weighs just under 4 ounces.  Belt buckle measures 3-3/4" tall by 4-1/2" across and weighs just over 6 ounces.  Nothing is stamped as to metal purity.  Uncle Frank signed each piece with a cursive FS.  See pics for details on condition.
So, I actually know the history of this set.  This set was made for my father in the mid 1980's and it has been in his/Moms/my possession since purchase.  Have no idea why, my dad never wore southwest style clothing, not that I could remember anyway.  I  cannot ever remember him wearing this set. So this has probably been bagged up and stored away for 30-35 years. This set was a special request, commissioned and purchased by my father.
I believe the stones are turquoise because that is what my uncle worked with.  Same with the metal, I believe it is Sterling, again, that is what he worked with.  Toning also tells me it is probably sterling.  I'll figure a way to test it.
Everything on this piece appears to be hand crafted, and built up piece by piece.  And I can tell you, after those three years I took in Fairbanks, this was a very complicated and difficult piece to make.  This is not a cast piece.  These were made by cutting and shaping metal pieces and stacking and joining and soldering them all together.  And every solder joint that is added to the piece had to be heated just so or some other joint would melt and the piece would fall apart.  Been there, done that.  What I am saying here is that this is a one-off, unique set that took many, many hours to make.
Now my uncle Frank was not native anything other than native polish and very proud of it.
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