Letter Opener

This rosewood and sterling letter opener makes a great gift for someone who has it all...with its heavy handle and highly polished blade it looks and feels like pure luxury.

Onyx "Rockstar" Bracelet

This bracelet is made of gorgeous faceted onyx stones - definitely not for the timid !It is a piece by William Spratling successors and would only be available for purchase by special order.

Gorgeous ! And HEAVY !

This is one heavy necklace- 261.1 grams to be exact...But definitely worth the neck strain! 92.5 Sterling Silver.

$ 385.00 USD
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Maria Belen Nilson

Maria Belen Nilson, originally from Argentina, has resided in Taxco for a decade- crediting her love of the Mexican culture as the influence for her jewelry designs.

Dia de Los Muertos

Day of the Dead was celebrated throughout Mexico this past weekend. Claudia Cota really gets into the spirit and makes a street size "ofrenda" every year which the people of Taxco love to come see and take photos. Here are a few images.

Rosewood and Sterling Earrings by Violante Ulrich

These beauties are made by Violante Ulrich. Her designs reflect the strong influence of Taxco silver pioneer William Spratling - but with a more modern twist !

Sterling "Matchsticks"

I love this jewelry style and use the technique in many of my designs.

These matchsticks are the basis of my "shinka shinka " jewelry line. If you have been wearing Shayna Jewelry over the years you will know what I am talking about ...If not, no worries - go to my other blog to see photos of my pieces and you will see what I am talking about . Ana and I like to call these balled wires " matchsticks "... but since we only speak in Spanish to each other ...we call them "cerillos".

Who is Ana you might ask ? Ana Celsa Garcia Salgado is my "right hand woman" in Taxco and my friend . We have worked together over many years and I have the honor of being the Godmother to her two children . She is a huge heart and has two extra helping hands that I have come to rely on over the years so that I can provide even more people with unique and handmade jewelry designs. Ana takes care of making the cerillos for me and she does a great job . Plus we have fun together and I get to practice my Spanish when I am around her.

The cerillos are made by first cutting a coil of sterling silver wire into the appropriate length section and then forming the ball on the end of each wire by heating them (individually ) with the torch.

For the "shinka-shinka" jewelry elements , each individual wire is then threaded with a bead of some sort and then used in an earrings, necklace, bracelet (etc ) design