Farewell 2010!

2010 was a good year. But I have a feeling that 2011 will be even better!

Got any New Year’s resolutions? I can only think of two for myself:
I have to find the time to go to Denmark more often, or anywhere else for that matter. I don’t travel enough!

The other one is an idea I had a few days ago. A little project to keep myself occupied on dark, rainy afternoons (and to fill out the content of this blog!) You know how I have bragged about meeting all kinds of interesting people here in the store? Well, I want to introduce some of them to you by interviewing them, and (with their permission) put it all right here on the blog! Who are they, where are they from? Why are they in Cordoba and how do they like it? So stay tuned!

With that in mind, we wish everyone a Happy New Year. Also the happy, critical, sad, tired, energetic, hilarious, crazy, sane, positive, inspiring, stealing, sceptical, cranky, cheerful, arrogant, smart, shy people that passed through AGAVANZA in 2010. Except for the stealing ones, we hope to see many of you again in 2011!

“Hello, hello, hello…This is Nat King Cole”

That’s the first thing I’ve heard every morning in December when turning on the music player in the store. We have put on a lot of different Christmas songs during this month (some better than others), but hearing Nat King Cole’s voice puts me in a great mood, so he is always the first one to be played.

Christmas is just around the corner, and Marcos and I are off to spend some family time in Denmark, hopefully with a lot of snow, which we don’t see that often here despite the cold weather.

As you may see in the photo, I have decorated the store a bit for Christmas. Last year I didn’t, and ended up regretting it. We even got a tree, a fake one. That’s right, I want my fur and my Christmas trees fake! And why not make it a little more cosy for the customers and ourselves? Besides, in Spain it’s not really Christmas until January 6th, so there is more time to really enjoy the decorations.

And so, we’re offering this simple phrase to kids from one to ninety-two. Although it’s been said many times, many ways:

Merry Christmas to you!

Flower Power – Limited Edition!

We have, in fact, made so few of these flower-necklaces that they are currently only available in our store.

A silver flower with a hematite or agate ring surrounding it and 5 different colours to choose from. Each flower serves as a charm by itself, so you can buy them individually and change the flower whenever you like – or wear several colours of flowers at once to spice it up a bit! There can be up to 7 flowers on one chain.

The flower as a charm (as shown in the first photo below) costs 20 €, and the necklace with one flower-charm costs 35 €. The earrings cost 40 €.

If you’re interested in buying some flower power, hurry up and send us an email before they’re all gone: info@agavanza.com

Need some Bling?

If there’s one thing that has become clear to me over the years, it’s that people have very different tastes when it comes to jewellery! Some feel that less is more and some like bold and bulky jewellery. Others just like to experiment with different styles every day.

During the last couple of months I’ve had many requests for especially earrings with a little extra bling to wear at parties, weddings and other special occasions. There’s always something to celebrate here in Spain!
With this in mind I’m making a new collection, the essential design being simple oval shapes. This way, by choosing bigger or smaller shapes with more or less gemstones, you can either dress up or down your look to your liking. There will be something for every taste!

Another Night at the Alcázar...

With such impressive monuments in our city how could I not show you a few photos..?

These are from the other night at the Alcázar de los Reyes Cristianos here in Cordoba (a Fortress of the Christian Monarchs). It was built in the 8th century as a caliphate residence, and later became a residential palace for the Christian Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella.

In August they open the Alcázar at night, and since it’s located so close to the store, Marcos and I have gone there sometimes after closing, to enjoy the gardens and fountains and the occasional live music.
It’s an oasis in a boiling hot city!

Oh, and for those who haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Marcos – he’s my partner, professionally and personally.

An Angel Gets Its Wings…

Meet the newest member of the AGAVANZA team! We haven’t named this little angel because we prefer people to name their own angel – and that they choose its gender as well.
Here you can see part of the process of making the prototype. The angel will soon be available in the store and online, and with different gemstones. The gemstone on the angel below is rock crystal.

We Love a Good Challenge!

One of the great things about having a work bench with all my tools in the store is that we can adjust almost any piece of jewellery so that it fits you perfectly; a bracelet can be shortened, a necklace can get a longer chain, perhaps you prefer an oxidized finish or maybe you would like the piece with a different gemstone? If it can be done, we’ll do it!

Some people come to us with an idea of something they would like for a gift or for themselves and we design the piece together. Others have already designed it and would like us to make it. And others already have the jewellery but would like to give it new life changing it into something else. You can see an example of this in the photos below.

Our client had a ring with a large stone, and wanted me to make it into a pendant. This is not a complicated task. The only thing tricky about it was that the stone was very thick with a peak back. I had to leave a great part of the original structure on the back of the ring, so the peak on the stone wouldn’t touch the skin when wearing the necklace…

Happy Birthday AGAVANZA!

Time certainly flies! One year ago today we opened the doors to the AGAVANZA store.

The first 2 months were busy and hot! We were so eager to open that we thought we could wait until winter to install air condition! And let me tell you, Cordoba gets hot in summer!!
But by February 2010 we were…well, still hot, but this time because of the heating that our very efficient new air condition also includes.
So come rain or snow or 45º (yes, we’ve seen it all this past year), we are now so comfortable here that we don’t mind working every day of the week.

Having the store in the old Jewish quarter in the centre of Cordoba means that we get to meet a lot of people visiting from all over the world. Many of them have bought gifts in AGAVANZA for their friends and family. And every time that happens, we wonder where in the world one of our little gift wrapped boxes will be opened days, weeks or months later…

So thank you, all of you wonderful people who have passed through our doors, for making this possible and for reminding us every day how much we love what we do!
We hope to celebrate many more birthdays here in Calle Deanes!

What's in a name?

The most common question people ask when visiting our store is “What does AGAVANZA mean?”

Literally it means rosehip. In Spanish commonly known as escaramujo, in German Hagebutte and in Danish hyben.
I have always been very inspired by the nature on the westcoast of Denmark, where you’ll find millions of rosehips. And when I started, I knew that I wanted a plant or a flower from “back home” as a trademark.
So I chose the rosehip. And as I was looking for a name that was easily pronounced, I chose a synonym for the Spanish version escaramujo, which is agavanza.

As an added bonus, within the word agavanza, you can see the verb avanzar, which in Spanish means to advance or move forward. And the first two letters form the chemical formula for silver, Ag, which is the only metal we work.

It would seem that I’m not the only one who likes the shapes and colour of the agavanza. The red necklace and earrings from our AGAVANZA Collection were the first two pieces of jewellery we made, and they have been our absolute bestsellers ever since!