Chilean Jewelry Artists

Featured artists Daniel Jorquera and Loreto Hoyos live and work in a small artist community near picturesque Monte Grande, Chile. Locate in the Elqui Valley, Monte Grande is best known as the birthplace of Literature Nobel Prize laureate, Gabriela Mistral. It's beautiful church, mountain countryside, and fresh air fills the valley with peace and calm. The villagers are genuine and wave to all who pass. They are simple, warm and filled with stories that help each traveler realize how unique life is in Elqui Valley. The Locals make their living selling beaded ethnic necklaces, unique earrings, and other handmade wares. They also grow grapes used to make the a traditional drink called pisco. This small village with its laid back culture has one road in and out of the town. Filled with beauty and simplicity it is truly paradise.

Lapis Lazuli Necklace Catalog #: NK-1003 Size: H:1.5" L:19" W:1"   Weight: 0.1 lbs click for details

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Crisoprasa Necklace Catalog #: NK-1001 Size: H:1.7" L:13" W:1.5"  Weight: 0.1 lbs click for details

Jewelry artists Daniel and Loreto have been creating unique, one-of-a kind adornments for over 12 years. The two artists collaborate together in crafting their art. Daniel mines and cuts the stones while his wife Loreto designs each piece and carefully embellishes the finished stone with colorful nylon filament tied in an intricate hand weave known as villagers weave. "Her ideas mined with my hands", says Daniel. Their jewelry is inspired by traditional Inca and Diaguita designs. The Diaguita culture flourished in Elqui Valley from the 8th to the 15th centuries and ruins can still be found in remote areas today. Daniel taught himself the skill of mining precious stones and a fellow traveler taught him how to work the stone and metal into finished jewelry. Daniel enjoys looking for rocks, minerals, and fossils and favors travel involved in locating these unusual stones. These unique gemstones consist of the blue Lapis Lazuli, white Andacollita, and green Crisoprasa. The Lapis Lazuli is now difficult to locate due to the mine closing in Copiapo, Chile. Designer Loreto Hoyos also uses a well-known seed, "ojo de buey", (translated as eye of the bull) in her artistry. Because the shape and color of their natural materials varies, each piece is a unique design and a genuine one-of-a-kind treasure. These stunningly original necklaces are 100 percent handmade and do not consist of any artificial manufacturing or glues.

Humans have been decorating their bodies with the beauty of natural objects for thousands of years. Primitive man wore necklaces made from the bones, claws and teeth of slain animals. Today most people think of natural jewelry as shiny pieces of corals, pearls and precious or semiprecious stones, polished and set in gold or silver. Who would ever believe that some of the most unusual and striking jewelry in the world comes from plants? Polished wooden beads, colorful seeds and pieces of palm, bamboo and tropical hardwoods are strung on fine nylon filament producing attractive necklaces and bracelets that rival any synthetic costume jewelry. Exotic seed necklaces from native cultures throughout the world often come with fabulous tales about their origins and legendary uses.