The couple formed by Nacho Nanni and Yaiza Sepúlveda decided seven years ago to take the big leap from producing rings for a few euros to high jewelry with precious and semiprecious stones, which they set by hand with care, taking care of every detail, to create unique pieces.
In an interview with Ekonomus, they explain how the island of Lanzarote inspires their work and encourage young people from Lanzarote who want to dedicate themselves to jewelry to follow their dream, because "in Lanzarote there is a market for many more," as long as they avoid immediacy and train themselves.
- Nacho, how did you train in jewelry?
I learned in a self-taught way. My grandfather was a jeweler, he didn't teach me, but since I was six years old I was already in his workshop playing.
- What did you do before and how did you decide to start creating jewelry?
I was a sculptor, I always had a knack for working with my hands. One day I started bending a wire to make a bicycle, like the ones Torrente's father made in the movie, to pay, with the sale, for a bicycle touring trip we were doing and not have to dip into savings. A girl who saw the bicycle said to me: why don't you make me an earring? That's how I started.
- How did you get to Lanzarote?
Y: I'm from Madrid, but I've been in Lanzarote for 20 years. I came to see a friend and I stayed. I met Nacho in Gran Canaria and he came to Lanzarote with me eight years ago.
N: My great-grandmother was from Gran Canaria and my father always wanted to come. I arrived 24 years ago after the Argentine corralito and I arrived with what I was wearing. I made sculptures and brought the molds, it went very well for me, art is well paid here.
"What I like most about this profession is perfectionism. Jewelry allows me to be in the details"
- What do you like most about the jewelry profession?
Perfectionism. Jewelry allows me to be in the details, which people discover later.
- How many pieces are there of each design and what metals are used?
Y: There is only one. We do not use molds. You can, in quotation marks, repeat the design, but the result will always be different.
N: We use gold and silver to dress the stone.
- How do you get the stones?
N: Buying the stone is not easy. Because we don't buy large stones, but collection stones. There are people who dedicate themselves to cutting stones and when a beautiful one appears, they set it aside and go to auction.
There we bid between 20 and 50 jewelers from around the world and we pay twenty times more than what that stone is worth, only for the type of vein that it shows once polished.
- What are the most common countries of origin for each of the stones?
Y: Ruby comes from Sri Lanka, opal from Australia, tourmaline from Afghanistan, moonstone from India. We buy everything that is diamond and colored stone, such as emeralds, directly from a gemologist in Madrid.
"At the beginning we made rings for between five and forty euros. Our artistic rings now cost between 2,500 and 4,500 euros."
- What is the most expensive of the stones?
Y: The most expensive is the emerald, but we invest more money in the opal, because the emeralds we work with are very small. A large precious stone, one square centimeter, costs about 100,000 euros at auction.
N: What we usually do is put a very good, small stone, such as diamond, emerald or sapphire, in a large semi-precious stone that is usually opal, but it can also be moonstone, tourmaline, or turquoise.
- Are there clients who order pieces in which the main stone is precious?
N: Yes, but in that case I explain to the client the stones that are available and if the client accepts, he makes the purchase himself.
- How did you make the leap to creating pieces worth thousands of euros?
N: At the beginning we made rings for between five and forty euros, until we went to the Chamber of Commerce to take a course six years ago. There, Pepe Fleitas (entrepreneurship expert) asked me, what do you give Nacho? I said: I am a jeweler. But what do you give as a person? I am a perfectionist, I replied. And are you doing something with that?
As a result of that conversation, I decided to use a small emerald and created a ring for 1,700 euros. I put all my passion into it. It sold within a week. That's how we started big.
- How much do your best-selling jewelry cost?
N: The artistic rings are between 2,500 and 4,500 euros. Then we have a more economical line of smaller rings, between 200 and 350 euros each.
"Jewelry in general is either very classic or contemporary, more artistic, but it is not so elaborate, nor with such expensive materials. We have made a risky bet, people don't usually go there."
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Where are the main clients of the jewelry store from?
Y: Especially women from northern Europe, from Germany, Belgium, Switzerland... They know us in the Teguise market. They are on vacation and are very surprised that we have gold and diamond pieces.
- How do Nanni's pieces differ from other jewelry proposals?
N: There are very few proposals like ours. Today most of the jewelry is made with machines.
Y: Jewelry, in general, is either very classic or contemporary, more artistic, but it is not so elaborate, nor with such expensive materials. We have made a risky bet, a large investment in material, people don't usually go there.
- Do you take inspiration from the island?
N: From the Cliff. We have the house right in front of the Cliff, in Famara. The texture of the pieces is inspired by how the stone of the Cliff looks at the time when the sun is setting and hits the Cliff.
- What is the most beautiful thing a client has ever told you?
N: One day, some German clients invited us to eat out and in the middle of the meal they said to us: "We are tired of coming to Lanzarote, you have to move from the island because every time we come on vacation we choose the island where you are.”
- What advice would you give to a young person who wants to dedicate themselves to jewelry?
N: Avoid immediacy. Train yourself, capacitate yourself, delve into something and when you are good and have a value to give, the money comes alone.
- Is there a market in Lanzarote for more creators?
Y: Of course. Everything that is different from what is moving, will have a place, it is valued very much. If the piece is well made, if the material is good, in Lanzarote there are clients who have no problem paying for it.
N: We always motivate our artisan friends to make less quantity and dedicate more time to each thing. A jeweler once told me, when you finish a piece, dedicate five more minutes to it.