Proud AC jewelry owners

Don't these ladies look beautiful? I wanted to showcase the photos sent to us so far by AC fans who look absolutely stunning in their new jewelry gifts. We'd love to keep posting these photos, so send your photos our way any time of year and we'll get you in the next collage!

Pictured items are the Cascade necklace, the Tagua Bib necklace, the Braided Açaí necklace, and the Jabon Bracelet and earrings.
Kestrel, in the upper right-hand corner has her own blog; please check out Make Fashion Fair!
Thanks for sending your photos, ladies---cheers!

Focus on Nancy and Carlos

This entry is to continue the series that provides a brief text focussing on the artisans who work with the Andean Collection. This week the focus is on Nancy and Carlos, who play an especially important role in the Andean Collection. Indeed with the recent addition of the beautiful inspiration belts to the shop, Nancy is now moving from being a lead artisan to acting as a regional coordinator.

Since the Andean Collection became their main client, Nancy and Carlos have been steadily improving their lives. Their house has been extended, and a new floor added with a spacious workshop space. The children all attend school, looking smart in their uniforms. More recently they have bought a Chevrolet Zafira car, which they say has given them a freedom and ease in getting from A to B.

Working with Nancy and Carlos has certainly been an amazing experience!

Pacific Blue

The most refreshing new color for the season for me is our Pacific Blue – a color that we only carried minimally in the AC’s early days (in 2009) but never let substantially define our line. Since I’ve always personally preferred the cooler side of the spectrum, loving emeralds, indigos, and turquoises (and tending away from pinks and purples), I am thrilled that we have fully embraced this bold, cool tone, and have used it to highlight this Spring’s line with several new pieces!



When we first introduced the Polished Tagua Bracelets, we originally stuck with soft, muted colors like nude and sage. But now, this palette has been courageously boosted with the vibrant shades of sunset orange, incan sun, and yes, the ever confident Pacific Blue!


The cobalt açaí seeds balance out and complement the otherwise warm hues of the Amazon Necklace in Tropical:


My absolute favorite piece of this season is the Açaí Cuff Bracelet (in Pacific Blue), because it marks a break through into new territory for our bracelets.


Finally, La Cleta earrings, which were inspired by the fantastic La Cleta Café in Quito, are my favorite in Pacific Blue:

Inspiration from the Best of Nature

The Yasuni Park in Ecuador is a gift of nature. It is a formation of infinitive hills, that have been formed over thousands of years by the rivers that have forged their way through the landscape. The magic of this area is its ecosystem, with the highest concentration of biodiversity in the world. The Yasuni area safeguards the highest variation of flora and fauna of the world, making it one of the most important national parks of the world for the survival of the planet. Indeed, many people beliveve that thanks to Yasuni, the Planet Earth continues to thrive!


It is not then a surprise that our artisans from Ecuador have been inspired by the powerful colour offered by nature to create one of our new pieces! The wild Amazon necklace:

Settling in

Settling in here in Ecuador has been made a lot easier by finding a charming apartment in a lovely part of Quito, which is very close to the centre of town, while also being quiet, safe and clean.

The house I live in belongs to a Mexican artist who turned 69 on Saturday and accordingly celebrated in her garden with old time friends, family members from all over and some new acquaintances like me. It was a really joyful and artistic party with delicious food and guests reciting poems in Quechua, Spanish, German, English and Russian! A girl who was at the party from the States and myself, the younger generation, were almost ashamed to realise that we could not recite any poems, but we made a plan to learn some by heart from our own cultures for next time.

Some of the guests were artists involved in the contemporary art scene in Quito, and I am looking forward to learning more about that whole scene in the near future. Next week I will be going to the opening of an exhibition of portraits by one of the artists who was at the party.

New Collection Released Today!

This is a very exciting day here at Andean Collection! We are releasing our Spring/Summer 2011 Collection, and it's my favorite yet! My personal favorite necklace is the La Floresta Necklace, which is similar in style to our best selling Tagua Bib Necklace, but there's something sexier about the newer La Floresta.

And the earrings! I am also obsessed with the La Floresta earrings in sunset orange. So striking and incredibly light and comfortable to wear for such a dramatic earring.

La Floresta is the name of our favorite neighborhood in Quito, and where our Ecuador based team lives and works. This set's easy flow and sleek lines was inspired by the neighborhood of La Floresta, which is a oasis in the midst of a very hectic city! Check all the new pieces here and let us know which is your new favorite!

Artistic Community At Home And In Ecuador

To jump-start the New Year, I chose to settle into my favorite cathartic practice, jewelry making. Getting lost in the textures and colors of the beads, and carefully stringing each bead onto a thin wire with focus and intention is truly an aesthetic outlet that touches many senses. However, what often makes the jewelry making process more empowered is when there is space to create amongst other individuals. Creating art is therapeutic and entails an understanding of the art of creating. For centuries, across the world, groups of men and women have come together in order to inspire and support each other’s creations.

To be a part of an artistic community and actively craft and execute designs is a powerful thing. I feel it in my own home with my mother and sister when we make jewelry on our dining room table, but I also vicariously feel it from our Andean Collection artisans in Ecuador who collectively turn each seed to bead and create such beauty out of nature’s purest offerings. Try it, it’s fun!


Making jewelry at our dining room table.

Christmas in Chile

I am here in Santiago, Chile once again on a school-related vacation (visiting loved ones and finishing up thesis research). This time I had the opportunity to see how Christmas day is celebrated here in the Southern Hemisphere, where it was boiling hot on December 25. I was surprised to discover that the real celebration takes place on Christmas Eve, which includes dinner and the opening of presents at midnight. The arrival of Santa Claus ("El Viejo Pascuero" in Chilean Spanish) occurs when kids are taken out of the house for a short amount of time, just long enough for to set up the gifts. "But what about Santa riding with his reindeer and coming down the chimney at night?¨I asked. The Chileans just shruggred and said, "We're too impatient to wait!"

On Christmas Day (which was just another Saturday) I went to see a cultural celebration for immigrant rights in Chile, a group made up of mostly Peruvians but also Bolivians, Argentineans, and Ecuadorians. This dance, called Caporales, is performed in the Altiplano, the high plains region of the Andes mountains that extend up into Ecuador. These performers continued dancing around the plaza even in excrutiating heat!

Riverbed Bracelets Stealing the Show!

I have always loved the look and feel of the AC's Riverbed Bracelets. The Riverbeds are extremely smooth to wear, rich in texture (you can see the actual grain of the seed throughout the bracelet) and are often mistaken for actual stones. I also love how you can stack the bracelets, intermix them with other bangles you already own, or just throw one on. This bracelet is bold but versatile and allows you to integrate it into your own personal style.

The AC team was thrilled when Anthropologie picked up the bracelets as part of their Spring 2011 line. We were even more surprised when we received an email blast from Anthro today with the Riverbed (they call it Strung Palm Bracelet) featured as part of their "Road Trip" and "Lets Get Lost" Spring 2011 campaign. These bracelets "Steal the Show" in this photo and we're so excited for Anthropologie not only to be carrying another one of our pieces but feautiruing it in such a beautiful photo!