About us
Hi, my name is Fiona Venter and I formed Brave Designs after I followed the trail of a malachite horse fetish to the village of Zuni, just months before the release of Dances with Wolves in 1991, that created a trend for all things Native American. And, so began a magical journey for me, during which I developed a deep affinity with the Navajo and Zuni people, their culture and religion. This is a very personal collection and many of the authentic lines on offer have been exclusively designed for Brave.
Turquoise
A lot has changed since then, most dramatically is the depletion of turquoise resource. The mainstay of my business is to offer the best in natural turquoise available and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find. Not to mention more expensive. Turquoise gets its colour from the heavy metals in the ground that it comes from - blue turquoise when copper is present (Mexico/Arizona) – green turquoise when iron is present (Nevada). I still like to source American turquoise, when possible, but most of the known turquoise mines are now closed and only the Kingman mine in America is still operating. Sourcing the lovely, deep blue, Sleeping Beauty turquoise, for example, is now dependent on traders opening up old vaults and my choices are limited to what is available.
Canyon Classics
This is the brand name that we have chosen for all our non-Indian jewellery lines that feature some of the best loved animals and symbols of Navajo lore and legend. Within this range is our bestselling woodland and botanic range that includes beautiful iridescent dragonflies, butterflies, bees, wolves and seahorses all with their respective meanings and story cards. Ancient petroglyph carvings by the Anasazi are recreated in universal myths such as the circle of life or the man in the maze or the dreamcatcher. Since 2017 all necklace lengths in this range have been changed from 16” to 18”.
Heritage Collection
This is our brand name for our offering of all our authentic Navajo or Zuni jewellery. Amongst this selection is our own, exclusive to Brave, reproductions from the golden era of Navajo silversmithing instigated and encouraged by Fred Harvey, one of the iconic developers of the Southwest, who introduced jewellery stores to his chain of hotels and restaurants along the Santa Fe railroad at the turn of 19th century. He is considered one of the founding fathers of the success and popularity of the whole Southwestern Indian silver and art market. The “Fred Harvey” range mainly features thunderbirds, arrows and the four direction symbol.
Zuni Fetishes
The beautiful Zuni, stone carvings that have been carved by generations of Zuni families and believed to actually contain the powers of the animal carved are exquisitely depicted with heart-lines and adorned with turquoise and arrowheads.
This is my specialist area and my particular passion after that first sighting of a malachite horse. Since writing a small book about fetishes, I have seen in recent months my table top fetish sales have increased – they are so unique that they cannot be catalogued but phone or email for pictures and we can send photographs of what we have in store.
Naturally Brave
When my husband died 2 years ago, I wanted to put some meaning into the collection and the white feather is dedicated to him. A white feather is a sign from the angels and is to be treasured. It is fitting for both collections and as such we have developed the Naturally Brave point of sale and gift boxing to enhance your sales. Small Naturally Brave plinths free with orders over £500 and boxes 50p extra.