Jimmy Harrison is a nice guy. This Navajo jeweler is always willing to share his time and knowledge.

When Jimmy Poyer traveled the country with his country-rock band, he was often on the road. But he got bored between his music gigs when he returned to his home south of Farmington. Jimmy is the kind of man who can't sit still and do nothing. Looking for something to do, he asked Jimmy Harrison if he could work for him.

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Harrison said yes and, according to Poyer, “He taught me how to work with silver, how to do inlay and everything else about doing jewelry." Harrison is not a jealous person. He was eager to share his knowledge about one of his passions, passing it forward. The artist was born at Cove on the Navajo reservation in 1952. He first learned to work with silver at age 16 in a high school silversmithing class. Still, he credits his success to help from legendary Hopi Jewelers Preston Monongye, and his son, Jessie.

Harrison's artistic talent is not limited to jewelry. He studied music in college at the University of New Mexico and went to a school in Paris to study painting. But jewelry is where he made his name, winning Best of Show awards at major Indian art shows.

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His other passion is golf. He developed his early skills while studying Physical Education at UNM. It may be the passion that drives him the most. He loves the game and volunteered as a high school golf coach for several years. Teaching young people to play the game gives him a lot of satisfaction. He loves it so much that he has occasionally been known to miss deadlines for jewelry orders because of his love of the links!

Harrison's jewelry is recognized for his dedication to perfection. He takes hours to carefully cut and inlay stones into intricate designs. I told him once that golf was a game that fit him because he probably transferred that ability to concentrate on making beautiful pieces to the concentration it took to hit a golf ball consistently. He told me, “Golf is more difficult; you can never get it perfect.”

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We recently received three pairs of clip earrings that Jimmy Harrison made. Now, we all know not many people wear clip earrings today, but there are still many people who do. Some people are allergic to metals and can't wear pierced earrings, some don't like having holes put in their ear lobes, and some people just like them because they can easily pull them off when they are on the phone.

We always make it a point to have clip earrings in the gallery and on our website. Please enjoy these Jimmy Harrison pieces and follow this link if you want to see other clip earrings examples.

See all Jimmy Harrison's Jewelry in the Gallery