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A business that started out as an African stone importer was later to become Luxenter, the Spanish jewellery brand which has made a splash with its original colours and attractive textures. We interview founder Carmen Lizarriturri, and her daughter Mencía Moreno, the women behind these irresistible stone and silver creations.

How did a company that imported stones for jewellery become a brand of such character?
Carmen Lizarriturri: My husband ran a safari company in Africa and was a professional hunter. In 1972 he founded the firm which I then continued. It started off as an import-export business. We’d bring jewellers raw materials like malachite, tiger’s eye and above all ivory and elephant hair. Mounting elephant hair with gold and silver was how I first got into the world of jewellery, where I’ve been ever since. I worked with gold for a few years, but then ploughed all my efforts into silver.

Today Luxenter is now about silver, rather than gold, jewellery, which you combine with semi-precious stones. When did you make that transition?
C. L.: When my children finished studying and joined the business, Luxenter was reborn with a more up-to-date style. Our silver jewellery became based on rounded shapes which are modern, yet classical at heart. That was in 1999 so we’re now 10 years old. Mencía is a superb draughtswoman and designer. She’s inherited my taste for jewellery and for curvy shapes. I think that’s why our customers span such a wide age range, from 20 up to 60.
Mencía Moreno: Ever since I was little, I always saw my mother in elegant clothes, wearing jewellery that made her glisten with that special aura. Today, Luxenter designs silver jewellery, but I can clearly remember being totally fascinated by a diamond and gemstone collection. I’ve always been surrounded by jewellery and tried to give our silver creations that glamour you get from diamonds. Ten years ago, when my brother Iván and I joined the firm, we decided to move towards something more understated, elegant, charismatic and distinguished that would be valid at any social level.

"Every collection depends on the colours you’re going to wear, or “how we cover ourselves up”

Luxenter colours stay in line with fashion trends. Has that always been so?
C. L.: Fashion has always been important. Mencía and I try to go to all the international jewellery exhibitions. We pay attention to trends because there are brands and designers with a lot of influence. Every collection depends on the colours you’re going to wear, or “how we cover ourselves up”, as I put it. Once you know what those are, you need a bit of decoration to spice them up and that’s where our collections come in. The designers deal with the colour side, while we specialise in stones and how to carve them.

What materials are you working with for your next collections?
C. L.: We’re always on the lookout for new stones. At the moment, we’re using rock crystal, ametrine, agate and amethyst. And the spring/summer 2010 collection will have coral and turquoise, which are very summery stones. We mustn’t forget that our most expensive item costs €450 euros – that’s the retail price – and the cheapest are our charms at €19.
M. M.: The stones are our DNA. We love all of them. The important and fun bit is knowing how to get the best out of them.

The silver charms were your big hit last season. How did they come about?
C. L.: It was Mencía’s idea. She loves bags and shoes. We started drawing and running tests to find a shape where the pieces wouldn’t break and would fit perfectly with silver. When you use more than a certain amount, you have to smelt it and then fit it to the stone. It’s not an easy process and it took us a year and a half to launch. The collection is a huge success and it broadens our target still further because it includes little things for children.