"Our family's silversmith tradition began with my grandmother, Ana Núñez de Brilanti. She studied art and sculpture, and in the 1940s she moved to Taxco - she had fallen in love with the place. She became one of...
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"Our family's silversmith tradition began with my grandmother, Ana Núñez de Brilanti. She studied art and sculpture, and in the 1940s she moved to Taxco - she had fallen in love with the place. She became one of the great masters from Taxco's 'Golden Age of Jewelry.' Our grandmother is known for being one of the first women to combine different metals in her original designs.
"Our grandmother used to say she was greatly inspired by the jewelry found in Tomb No. 7 in the Monte Alban archeological site, in the state of Oaxaca. It was uncovered in 1932. Her designs were always modern, but with a clear pre-Hispanic influence. She often said that each design carried its own history.
"Let me tell you about signatures on the items. The first one to appear was Victoria, as my grandmother signed her name. Then our family’s second workshop was opened, carrying the name of my oldest aunt, Cony, so our jewelry signature became 'Cony and Victoria.' Now we sign our jewelry items with our family name, Brilanti.
"Our family legacy has been carried on from one generation to another. My father, José Brilanti, was my grandmother's younger son, and we are Rafael and José, her grandsons. We wanted to preserve our family name, as well as the essence of our grandmother's work, in our designs. We are guided by her hard work, integrity, and love.
"We use a variety of techniques when working with silver, including the lost wax technique, chiseling, laminating, and oxidizing. All the work is done by hand, and we are extremely careful about the quality of our products.
"Each of our jewelry pieces belongs to the collection that my grandmother began. We are the continuation of this wonderful woman's legacy, and we regard ourselves as lucky to have something of her within us."