The Story Behind Cody Jeweler’s Signature Wyoming Designs

The first time I ever came to Cody, a Buffalo pendant in our store window stopped me on the sidewalk. I was not working here then. I was not living here then. I just looked at it through the glass and thought, that is a beautiful thing. Fast forward to now, and I manage the store. I still walk past that window every day. It is a full circle I did not see coming now that I know these are our Signature of Yellowstone pieces. 

The Buffalo and Steamboat Cowboy lines are our signature at Cody Jewelers and across the Golden Buffalo family of stores. Every piece is designed in-house, copyrighted and trademarked by us, and hand finished right here in Wyoming. You will not find these designs anywhere else, which is unique in a market full of imported sameness. We have been designing and refining the Buffalo pieces for about 27 years now, and that time shows up in the details.

Why we keep coming back to the Buffalo

The Buffalo is not a motif we picked because it sells. It is the animal at the center of the most consequential wildlife story this region has.

Late in the 19th century, free-roaming buffalo covered the Great Plains in numbers hard to imagine from where we stand today. There were stretches where you could not see the grass for the animals. For the Native people who lived here, buffalo provided food, clothing, and shelter, the foundation of daily life.

By the dawn of the 1900s, they were nearly gone. That collapse was driven in large part by political aims, not just by hunting for hides and meat. What saved the species was the determined work of a small number of individuals and organizations who protected a few surviving animals and rebuilt the herds from there. Yellowstone’s buffalo population was rebuilt from 23 animals.

The irony has stayed with me for years. People now sustain an animal that once sustained people across this entire landscape. It is protected almost everywhere it still runs free. The largest free-roaming herd in the country lives right up the road in Yellowstone.

The Buffalo pieces

Large silhouette pendant. This is my personal favorite in the whole line. Solid 14 karat gold, heavy solid cast, no hollow points anywhere in it. Just a clean, unbroken profile. We carry 14 karat gold chains to go with it. The scale works equally well on a man or a woman.

Buffalo studs. One of our newer introductions and a fast favorite. Solid 14-karat gold with a flat Buffalo detail. They are substantial enough to wear in a main lobe piercing, but they also look sharp in a cartilage piercing.

The Monarch. We have made this one a long time. What sets the Monarch apart is that it is fully three-dimensional rather than flat, so it sits a little higher off the chest rather than lying flat. It has real presence. The larger version is sterling silver, and we can have it made in 14-karat yellow gold on request. I also have a small 14 karat yellow gold Monarch in the case right now, ready to go.

Small silhouette pendant. Same clean profile as the large one, fabricated in sterling silver at a much friendlier price. This is our gift piece. It is what I hand people who want the design for someone younger in the family, or for themselves, without the gold investment.

The Steamboat Cowboy pieces

The bucking horse and rider is the symbol of this state and of the University of Wyoming. You see it on license plates from Evanston to Sundance. Our Steamboat pieces move fast with visitors and locals alike, and honestly, the locals may be the more enthusiastic group.

Large Steamboat pendant. Solid 14-karat yellow gold and the heaviest thing in the collection. There is a lot of gold in this pendant. I hesitate to use the word investment, but you feel it when you pick it up. It is a statement piece and a showstopper. I have it displayed on a smaller 14-karat yellow gold box chain, though it would look even better on a heavier Rolo or rope chain. Sized well for a man or a woman.

Cowboy dangle earrings in 14 karat yellow gold. These hang in our window, and I get comments on them constantly. They have lever backs, which are comfortable to wear and also let the cowboy hang a little lower, so you get real movement as you move. There is good weight to them, enough that you feel the quality, not so much that they become uncomfortable.

Smaller Steamboat pendant. The same design at a reduced size, available in sterling silver or in 14-karat yellow or white gold. The sterling version is our graduation piece. If you have a student leaving the Basin at the end of the summer, this is a wearable piece of home they can keep.

Cowboy studs. A little bigger and more substantial than the Buffalo studs, and about as easy to wear as jewelry gets. I have them in 14 karat rose gold, and they are also available in 14 karat white gold, 14 karat yellow gold, and sterling silver.

Cowboy dangle earrings in sterling silver. Identical in design to the 14 karat pair, at a fraction of the price. Same look, very different receipt.

We have several other variations of both lines in the store beyond what I have covered here.

Come try them on

It’s difficult to show these pieces in photos fully. Weight, finish, and how a piece actually sits on your collarbone are things a screen cannot show you. That is my honest pitch for coming down in person.

If either of these lines interests you, come to the shop. We are glad to walk you through each piece and the design decisions behind it. Try on the earrings. Put a pendant on and see how it hangs. Visitors love these, and so do the people who have lived here their whole lives, and I love them myself, which is where this all started for me anyway.

Cody Jewelers is located at 1213 Sheridan Ave, Cody, WY. We’re open Tuesday through Saturday in the summer.

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