SAN DIEGO -- We are celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with Santos Oñate. A Latina-owned, San Diego-made jewelry company inspired by the designer's Spanish and Mexican heritage.
Melanie Kartalija was in The Basque Country of Spain following in the steps of her ancestors when she was so inspired by the culture and architecture, it changed her life.
"The balconies. The doors. The railings. The beautiful shapes that are in the buildings. I thought to myself, I need to do something with this. I want to create these pieces that remind me of this area and when I wear it I feel like I'm back there," Kartalija said.
She came home to San Diego and poured her inspiration into her own jewelry line called Santos Oñate.
"That is my great grandmother's name, and she came over to the US from Mexico in about 1918," she said.
Each piece is custom-made using Old World European techniques. No two are alike. Sold and textured 14 Karat gold.
Heirloom quality pieces that can be passed down through generations. Each gemstone is hand-selected. She showed us one of her popular medallions.
"When you're walking through a beautiful little town with coble stone streets and there are these walls that are so beautiful because they have all these textures; one wall might have stone, brick, and plaster and plaster that's coming off the wall. And I wanted to replicate that with this piece. So it's got different textures on here," Kartalija said.
Even the tools they use to texture the gold are original to Santos Oñate.
"I work with our bench jeweler, and we created different tools to create these different textures. So each piece is really unique because it's made one at a time and we're texturing those pieces," Kartalija said.
And everything is done here in San Diego. 100% San Diego made. Even the leather pouch the jewelry comes in is inspired by Melanie's heritage.
"It reminds me of the fact that my ancestors or my family rode on horseback into the United States," Kartalija said.
Bi-lingual charms start at $95. Medallions can run into the thousands. She hopes anyone who wears her pieces feels the magic of Spain and it sparks memories of a special place to them.