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Description: |
It is 1622
and the newly completed, and heavily armed, Spanish galleon
Nuestra Señora de la Atocha was ready to head for her
Spanish home as the rear guard for a treasure convoy of
Spanish ships. The convoy had arrived in Havana late due to
weather, so the Captain’s of the convoy had to make a
decision, head for home and take their chances with the
weather or stay in Havana harbor until after hurricane
season. They were laden with an amazing amount of inventory,
which made for a hard decision. However, on September 4,
1622 the convoy departed Havana harbor with fair skies to
head for home.
A few days
out at sea, a hurricane came out of nowhere and ripped
through the convoy. The Atocha fought to stay afloat, but
sometime in the night she lost her rudder and her ability to
steer. She was then hit again by another hurricane, which
forced her to sink on a reef, bow first losing 260 out of
265 crew and passengers, including the Captain. In total
eight ships were lost including two other treasure galleons,
the Santa Margarita and the Nuestra Señora del Rosario.
The
Atocha’s whereabouts have been in question since her demise
until 1971 when adventurer and treasure hunter, Mel Fisher
and his family and crew finally found her. The quest for
treasure cost Mr. Fisher highly, claiming the lives of his
son, his son’s wife and three crewmembers. The “Ghost
Galleon” as he called the Atocha had exchanged the five
lives that were saved in 1622, for the five lives taken
during excavation: a heavy price to pay.
The ships
manifests showed that the Nuestra Señora de la Atocha, was
carrying a heavy load of copper, silver, gold, tobacco, gem
stones, jewels, jewelry and indigo, along with unregistered
jewelry and personal goods. To this day, she is one of the
largest sunken treasure finds in the World. Beyond the
treasures that were documented, she was also carrying over
three pounds of Columbian Emeralds and unregistered gold
bullion, considered blood money from the slave trade. Mr.
Fisher and company continues their search for more artifacts
and treasure, giving us a rare glimpse into 17th
century Spanish history.
“Treasures
of the Atocha” is my second design based on sunken treasure.
Using the manifests and images of the treasures found on the
Nuestra Señora de la Atocha as my inspiration, I have
incorporated gems, gold and chain into the design. The
central pear CZ has a peyote stitch bezel with a deep
channel of beadwork, holding Swarovski cup chain. Decorative
pearl embellishments add the finishing touches. A pearl
cabochon drop completes the central component. Two oval CZ’s
mimic the look of the central component and are connected to
the pear bezel with ladder stitch chain links. Pearl
cabochon chain links complete the necklace ending with two
pearl cabochon buttons and a button connector. |
