Galeria Treasures

Rocio at the Mercado de Artesanias wearing Jose-designed earrings, necklace and bracelet. 

I can't resist, I hope you don't mind, but here's one more story about beautiful things made in beautiful San Miguel de Allende. The lovely Rocio is one half of a designing couple. Her husband, Jose, began creating this particular line of jewelry only six months ago, but he's so prolific he's filled a shop in the center of town and a stall in the Artist's Market.

Part of the magic and excitement of the Artisan's Market is finding the treasures among the usual and expected items. And one of the joys is that there are so many treasures, they're not hard to find! During our last trip in January, on one of my nearly-daily runs through the market, this display of jewelry caught my eye. When I stepped into the stall for a closer look, I met the very friendly and charming Rocio and Jose. Most of the designs have a hip repurposed industrial feel but some incorporate precious antique milagro hearts from Rocio's grandmother's collection. I tried on a little bit of everything, finally deciding on a necklace.

They gave me their card and invited me to visit their shop in the center of town. I recognized the style of the card as that of an artist Matt and I met in San Miguel a couple years ago, El Pinche Grabador. We went to one of his openings and really liked his work. Rocio said that the card was indeed designed by him and in fact they were good friends. Such is the sublime serendipity of San Miguel, where there is two degrees of separation, at most.

Jose in his shop

When I stopped by Galeria Treasures, Jose and I had a fun chat about what inspires him. As a kid, he loved looking at his mother's fashion magazines. He liked the beautiful women, of course, but was also drawn to fashion, realizing that dressing well was very important. He's been making jewelry of various styles and materials for over twenty years. But he's passionate about his current line, combining rubber and brass parts.

This necklace, earrings and bracelets could easily fit in with the jewelry sold at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art shop. Made of rubber, brass and steel, the well-made designs are bold, original and contemporary. Jose says he was inspired by the energy of crop circles and imagining what their messages and complex meanings may be.

No deep meaning here, but these Mexican beer bottle cap bracelets are funky and fabulous. 

On our next visit, I think I need to get one of these.

The necklace I selected and have worn many times since. It brings me good luck!