Collection: Rhett Lewis

Born in February 1969 in Holbrook, Arizona. After graduating from a local high school, he took a job at the trading post run by his father (Lewis Traders) and began silverwork at the same time. In junior high, while accompanying his father on a hunting trip, his rifle accidentally discharged and injured two fingers on his right hand, but he skillfully makes jewelry with the remaining fingers. His hallmark is the shape of a palm with no middle finger.

His skill caught the eye of the owner of “Running Bear Trading Co.” in Gallup, then a trading partner of Lewis Traders, and he began teaching techniques to young Navajo jewelers. His jewelry making was nurtured through direct instruction and influence from renowned Hopi and Navajo jewelry artists such as Thomas Curtis, Howard Nelson, David Lister and Steven Sockyma. His work is traditional Southwestern-style jewelry. In his spare time he enjoys the outdoors, including hunting, fishing and camping.