From the beaches of Tenerife, the Spanish island of the Canary Islands, to Mexico and Valencia: the journey of the Victoria Cruz brand has been a long one. Now the Spanish company presents its new production and, at the same time, has decided to renew itself with a rebranding. Victoria Cruz jewelry is made of 925 sterling silver and 100% nickel free. They are made in Italy to guarantee traceability, sustainability and quality.
Also, to prolong the life of their color and luster, they are plated in rhodium or 18-karat gold. Alongside the metal, the jewels feature crystals composed of a mixture of quartz, sand and minerals. It is produced by electric cutting, a carving technique that creates several superimposed layers that guarantee greater precision and optimize its luminosity.
The 23/24 novelty is called Passage, a catalog that presents 12 new collections. The jewels, combined with the colors of the season, mother of pearl or cultured pearls, are proposed as a complement to different looks. Victoria Cruz was born in the 1980s in Tenerife to Luís and Victoria Mínguez Alcalá, who sold bijoux and minerals on the seafront. After returning to Valencia, Luís began importing alpaca and silver into Mexico, eventually transforming the business into a production of jewelry made in Italy. In 2011 his son, Alexis, transformed the business into a recognizable brand, Victoria Cruz. Today the company has more than a thousand points of sale distributed nationally and internationally in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Israel.
The Gems of Tangarart
It is a brand that offers truly remarkable high jewelery pieces, which have allowed Tangarart to arrive among the finalists of the Design Couture Awards in the Best in Colored Gems Above $40,000 Retail category, that is, among those who produce the most precious jewels. Yet not much is known about Tangarart, beyond the somewhat generic declarations, on the goal of the maison to create unforgettable jewels. The known information is that Tangarart is a Brazilian brand, based in São Paulo founded in 2004.
The name is an expression of the Baiao Industria de Metais company, owned and managed by Alexandre Sant Ana Baiao, together with Luciana Saraiva Santos Baiao. More is not known or, at least, is not immediately available. What is unequivocal are instead the jewels produced by the Brazilian Maison. Like other jewelry companies in the South American country, the proposed pieces are made with many high-quality colored gems. Diamonds, emeralds, but also stones such as tourmalines, rhodonite, imperial topaz. Geometric but gentle shapes characterize the volumes of the jewels, appreciated by enthusiasts from all over the world.
The peak of success for the Aletto Brothers
Like many Italians who chosed America, the Aletto family placed great faith in the opportunities offered by the New World. But the Alettos, originally from Naples, were not poor in search of fortune. Bartolomeo Aletto, the progenitor of the family, was a jeweler who was commissioned to create a special jewel for the inauguration of the Eiffel Tower at the Universal Exposition in Paris. It was 1889. His son, Raffaele, was also a jeweler. And in 1949 Raffaele’s son, Alberto, left Naples for Caracas, Venezuela, where he founded a factory with more than one hundred employees.
In 1962 the next generation, that of Alfredo Aletto, settled in Florida and founded the family business, Aletto Brothers, in Boca Raton. And arrived at the fifth generation, the story still continues with Alberto, Amy, Luigi and Mario.
The business continues successfully, as evidenced by the first place in the Best in Colored Gems Above $40,000 Retail category at the Couture Design Awards in Las Vegas. The competition category already indicates the type of jewel that comes out of the Aletto Brothers laboratory: luxury. The jewels are in the wake of the high jewelery tradition, with the use of invisible settings, precious stones, rings, brooches and earrings that often use the cluster shape to offer jewels that are lively and rich in color, as well as precious.