REGINA FLORES MONTES

.950 Silver and Amazonite Abundance Earrings

Trujillo City, located in Peru, was once a thriving arena of luxury as agricultural exports provided much of the city’s wealth. 

Today archaeological centers highlighting structures of pre-Incan cultures provide historical insight into the city’s heyday.  Peru is also home to featured jewelry designer Regina Flores Montes.

According to Google’s Adwords Keyword Tool there are roughly 12,100 global searches a month for the phrase 'leaf necklace'; a respectable amount that in my opinion reveals the public’s love affair with this enduring symbol.

A symbol of regeneration, countless jewelry designers including Melinda Raney of Melinda Maria Jewelry and Jennifer Meyer Maguire have incorporated the leaf into their collections.  However, some designers like Ruth Baird (New Zealand) and Georgina Ettridge (England) have respectively devoted an entire collection and/or brand to this delicate natural form. 

A one-time architecture major, Montes also shares a fondness for the leaf form whereby she creates an assortment of choker necklaces, cuff bracelets and cocktail rings in radiant .950 silver accented with lush yet subtle gemstones such as opaline, chrysocolla and amazonite .   These are beautifully sculpted items that mimic the soft drape and curve of leaves.

.950 Silver Foliage Wrap Necklace

“When I was a little girl I use to spend hours watching my mother create fascinating gold jewelry,” she recalls.  “When I was old enough to help I would spend more hours around her and by the time I was 15 I was making my own creations." says the designer.

"I want to transmit the exotic beauty of Peru’s natural landscapes through my jewelry.  With my Wild Nature Choker Necklace I wanted to convey the sense of freedom with which plants grow wild in the fields; stretching out in every direction.

.950 Silver Windblown Leaves Wrap Bracelet

My jewelry does not feature perfectly cut or lapidated, polished gemstones.  I love the artistry of nature and I value an original, unpolished gem. 

I believe beauty is found in the simplest of things. My creations carry with them my pride of belonging to a country that is exotic, magical and historic.”