As if they were tenants of hell, each receives a piece of fire. Its replacement and accomplice is a butane bottle. From time to time, they turn the fitting and activate a gas trigger which serves both to melt a few silver nuggets and to cause the fusion of a geometric structure. With these exercises of flame and mastery, the three managers of the family business maintain a century-old legacy. Jerónimo, Raúl and Luis (50, 54 and 56 years old respectively) are among the last filigree artisans in Salamanca. The goldsmiths of pieces as emblematic of their culture as the charro button. And the survivors of a discipline on the verge of extinction.
Under the name of their father, Luis Méndez, these three brothers continue to take jewelry to the next level. His brand is built on perfection and dedication, instilled by his predecessors. Also of curiosity for novelty and respect for tradition, considering it as a model to season with the avant-garde. “Our craftsmanship approaches art when it manages to convey the beauty that manual work brings to our pieces. We make high quality products with a personal component,” describes Luis, the eldest and the one who spends the most time in front of the public at fairs or in the establishment located in the center of Salamanca. Although his intention is to reduce this additional administrative burden and return to the workshop where these delicate works are created. This hideout is located in Tamames, about 55 kilometers from the city, between fields of cattle and cereals. The lineage was incubated in this commune. His grandparents were from Travassos, Portugal, trying to prosper in commerce. In the middle of the last century, these migrants passed the baton to their children.
“My uncle Antonio opened an independent workshop and, years later, my father opened his own. It was at the end of the sixties. We grew up with him in the house. It was just another outbuilding,” recalls Luis, who as a teenager had already replaced the desk with metal. He started as an apprentice and little by little he entered the world of watermarking. He defines it as follows: “It consists of making jewelry or objects based on wire structures. » To illustrate this, the three brothers show the process that begins with the melting of gold or silver. You get a bar that will become wires of different thicknesses. These are flattened, molded, welded, stripped, given volume, embellished and burnished with infinite patience. Transforming this fickle and distorted raw material into a museum piece is a task that borders on alchemy. “It is a laborious technique and requires a lot of time,” add the experts, who list the two types they cultivate: openwork, like textile lace, or on sheet metal, to decorate surfaces.
What shines in a window must have gone through experimentation for it to germinate as an exclusive object. “One of our first motivations was to preserve traditional models, but making them with the quality requirements of a high jewelry brand,” explains Luis. They try to be radical in this sense: “We must be perfectionists. We don’t like to work below the level just to sell at a lower price,” he argues.
In front of a window where the sun’s rays filter through, the partners of this national company play at telling a filigree story. “In the end, it’s taking a risk and putting your mark on a piece of jewelry so that it acquires another character,” explains Luis. They pay attention to fashion, even if they prefer to discover their own trends. “We are an open people. Perhaps because of the heritage of these Portuguese ancestors, who traveled and were very tolerant,” considers one of the protagonists. He believes that this technique is far from disappearing: “The way to preserve it is to find profitability and a market. We have been using these principles for almost a century.” To confirm this, he exhibits his products in the store and gallery. In their collection, we find rings, earrings or necklaces that range from 20 to 10,000 euros. We can distinguish the charro buttons, which constitute the bulk of this Salmanquin heritage. A geometry of tiny threads intertwine to create a symbol that adorned party costumes, wedding costumes or reliquaries.
“We have sold to big brands and important people wear our jewelry,” says Luis when asking about his main customers. “Our challenge is to find a market that appreciates quality and what is truly exclusive,” explains the jeweler. In the age of 3D printers and industrial mass manufacturing, their method seems anachronistic. “It’s common to say that if we calculated the number of hours we spend, it would be priceless. But the value of the materials and the cost of labor determine it,” he says. And you can copy a sketch, but not an impulse. These brothers have already won national and international awards, such as the IFAM Innovation Award in the United States in 2025 or the Product Award at the National Crafts Awards in 2015. They were also included in 2020 in the prestigious Homo Faber Guide.
His work with charro metal is, in a way, a way of defying contemporary urgency. “There is always a reaction. Due to the invasion of digital, analog is back, isn’t it? This one, even if it does not triumph over the machine, is evolving on an artistic level”, muses Luis, who gives courses and workshops so that the heritage continues. “It must be practiced. It may not be someone from our family, because we do not have children, but it is a student who is interested. The future lies in training as a tool to enhance the work of the artisan. With an appropriate approach, it can attract young people”, said this teacher stubbornly, as if he had in his hands a wisdom that burns in a present accustomed to burning the past and where rituals and tricks are not understood.
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