RARE 1953 Aspen Colorado Cross Country Ski 1st Pl Belt Buckle Jim Hayes Sterling
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:607230 |
1953 Aspen Colorado Cross Country Ski 1st Place Belt Buckle, hand made by J. Hayes.
Here is your chance to own an early J. Hayes piece, made shortly after he opened his business in 1949, awarding the 1st place cross country ski award in 1953. Amazing hand crafted piece from this master gold and silver smith who first commissioned a piece for legendary actor Gary Cooper. I have never seen another Hayes buckle where he used enamel, this is a unique and very rare find! I believe t...hat the metal for the leaf is brass. The enamel really makes the iconic leaf and snowflake symbol stand out.Very nice condition. The buckle measures 1 3/4" by 2 1/2" and weighs 58.9 grams. The belt loop fits up to a 1 1/4" belt.
Please see the additional pictures for greater detail.
Free standard mail delivery within the United States.
The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl hit while Jim was a child and the family wandered for years through the South. When he was 17, in 1937, Jim joined the U.S. Cavalry and served for a three-year duty. He had just retired when World War II started and he took the Army Air Force test and became a pilot. In 1943, he crash-landed his plane during a hurricane in Florida while he had been flying radar students over the ocean. A radar set hit him in the back of the head and throughout the rest of his life, he had a steel plate over the wound.
After a year in the hospital he used his GI Bill to go to Trinity University in Texas and then went to New York City where he went to jewelry school and apprenticed and worked for Columbia Jewelry Manufacturing Co. for four years, making many pieces in gold for Cartier.He took up skiing in New England while in New York and when he heard about Aspen, he came in 1949 so he could attend the FIS races in 1950. He never returned to New York, though the company phoned him often offering his job back.
Here is your chance to own an early J. Hayes piece, made shortly after he opened his business in 1949, awarding the 1st place cross country ski award in 1953. Amazing hand crafted piece from this master gold and silver smith who first commissioned a piece for legendary actor Gary Cooper. I have never seen another Hayes buckle where he used enamel, this is a unique and very rare find! I believe t...hat the metal for the leaf is brass. The enamel really makes the iconic leaf and snowflake symbol stand out.Very nice condition. The buckle measures 1 3/4" by 2 1/2" and weighs 58.9 grams. The belt loop fits up to a 1 1/4" belt.
Please see the additional pictures for greater detail.
Free standard mail delivery within the United States.
The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl hit while Jim was a child and the family wandered for years through the South. When he was 17, in 1937, Jim joined the U.S. Cavalry and served for a three-year duty. He had just retired when World War II started and he took the Army Air Force test and became a pilot. In 1943, he crash-landed his plane during a hurricane in Florida while he had been flying radar students over the ocean. A radar set hit him in the back of the head and throughout the rest of his life, he had a steel plate over the wound.
After a year in the hospital he used his GI Bill to go to Trinity University in Texas and then went to New York City where he went to jewelry school and apprenticed and worked for Columbia Jewelry Manufacturing Co. for four years, making many pieces in gold for Cartier.He took up skiing in New England while in New York and when he heard about Aspen, he came in 1949 so he could attend the FIS races in 1950. He never returned to New York, though the company phoned him often offering his job back.
