Meet the Buyer: Esqueleto

A network of boutiques in Oakland, Los Angeles, San Diego and New York, a jewelry brand and nowa show for independent designers.

How did you become a “jewelry disruptor”?

I fell in love with the art of making jewelry at the age of 20 when I was in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Once I completed my firstcourse, I realized that I wanted to beboth jeweler and designer. The key element would be to hone my skillsso that I would really understandhow to make jewelry that was both functional and beautiful. So, I enrolled at FIT in New York to perfect my skills and live in my favorite city. I worked hard to build my brand and soon after, found myself in Northern California with the chance to open my own store. I didn't know it at the time, but I was paving the way to building a brand and becoming more of a jeweler than a designer.

Creating and designing jewelry is still a great passion of mine, but nowadays I think my role is more suited to store manager and retail manager.

How does Esqueleto differ from other boutiques?

First and fore most, in terms of customer service, the unique ness of the offer and the experiences of
each individual designer, thus providing a different way to buy beautiful objects and jewelry and considering that Esqueleto has been in business for almost 15 years! In general, jewelers are undergoing a slight slowdown from an economic pointof view and a market saturated with direct to consumer brands.

Esqueleto offers a wide price range because it is important to us that there is something for everyone, both in terms of price and style, with designers from all over the world.

In which direction is the jewelry market moving?

That is a difficult question. We have seen a big shift towards ever greater jewelry production. Right
now, however, there is a return tomore handcrafted pieces with a huge demand for colored gemstones, which is exciting. With Melee The Show you have added event organizer to your activities as designer and retailer. Melee was the natural evolutionof a need for a “platform” that wouldoffer events with a different format to what the market was proposing. My business partner Rebecca Overmann and I simply filled a niche. Since we were already operating inthe jewelry market, we created anexceptional environment for sellingjewelry to a select group of retailers with a high standard for both bold design aesthetics and uniqueness instyle. We were able to create a bettersystem for designers and buyers toconnect on a product they both sell.

A jewelry brand, a network of jewelry boutiques, a jewelry show. Are they somehow connected?

I actually see them as very separate entities, but obviously there is some overlap with the designers we work with. I would say the most important element is the bond with our artists and the beautiful work they produce and share with the world. And the buyers we select for Melee The Show are so interesting and wonderful that I feel really lucky to have “built” such aspecial network.