Though the name of the line is Gabriela Artigas after its creative force, it could easily be called the Artigas Family Jewelry Project. From the very beginning, it has been a team effort: Gabriela’s mom was the motivation behind the debut necklaces, her brother helped her turn her work into a fully formed line, and her sister serves as her business-minded partner-in-crime. But, obviously, there’s a lot more to them than that. Gabriela walks us through the dynamics. —erica “My mom used to wear this a lot. It’s mother of pearl and ebony wood.” Her mom, Teresita Tinajero“When I designed my first collection—if you could call it that—it was based on my mother because all the pieces were for her. She was going to a wedding in Mexico, where I’m from, and she didn’t want to wear any expensive jewelry. Now she’s the only investor in the company. She dresses really cool—she has a really nice aesthetic. I remember when I was 16, she got this orange leather jacket that I loved, and she would never let me wear it! She’s also a really great cook. I love her Mexican dishes, like chicken mole and chipotle salsa. My brother, sister, and I all have a really close relationship with my mom. She got married and had us when she was really young.” One of Alex’s furniture designs. Her younger brother, Alex“When I launched the line, it was basically me and Alex doing it. Alex is very smart and super articulate—he still does all of the writing for my site. He’s always seemed older than he is. He studied architecture and now makes furniture—everything is made in Los Angeles. His girlfriend actually does all of the photography of my jewelry, and he has a baby—a one year old who has been like the best gift life has given the family.” Tere, in jewelry, even. Her sister, Tere“She’s two years older than me, and when we’re together, it’s ridiculous. We’re completely opposites, and we’re together all the time. She does sales, and I do production and design. There’s always going to be a fight between sales and production—it’s hard, but it works out. And she’s an excellent salesperson—excellent. I’m shy whenever we go to trade shows, and she talks. She’s really good at what she does. Before the jewelry line, she would never, never wear any jewelry—she’s kind of tomboyish. Now you see her in rings all the time and big, chunky pieces. It’s very funny.” Score the edition Gabriela made for us (with a little help from her fam, of course). It’s a very pretty, strikingly subtle leather cuff.

When Gabriela Artigas started designing jewelry, she didn’t really mean to. She was just humoring her mom, who wanted some not-too-fancy pieces to wear to a wedding in Mexico City, where Gabriela was raised and was studying textile design. But on a trip to L.A. to visit her brother, who was enrolled in architecture school there, she got her first order: “Someone at Maxfield bought the first piece I ever designed right off of my mom’s neck,” she recalls.Something about Los Angeles and Gabriela worked. And soon enough she made the permanent move north. “I decided to just come here for a few months,” she says. “And then I never went back.” Those early designs—big, bold necklaces that brought together coral, ebony, mother of pearl, and whatever materials were luring her in at the moment—have evolved into the dynamic sort of line that’s full of surprises: tiny gold rings sit alongside heavy body chains and bohemian leather wrist wraps play off aggressive, coated-steel necklaces. The whole range of designs pays tribute to her two hometowns. “All of the pieces are made in Los Angeles or in Mexico City—nothing is produced overseas. Everyone who I work with has been doing this for a really long time, so they have the skills and experience,” she explains. And, at it since 2003, so does she. —erica Score her latest creation, exclusive to Of a Kind: a hunter green leather cuff that’s as pretty as it is understated.

“When I first moved here to Los Angeles, we bought this property, and Alex, my brother remodeled it,” explains the Mexico-bred jewelry designer Gabriela Artigas. “It was terrible before.” Now, Gabriela lives and hosts a showroom for her stand-out pieces in the small-but-sleek West Hollywood space, and her sister Tere (the business mind behind the line) resides above. Take a look at what Gabriela has done with the place. Like Gabriela’s taste? Then you’re going to be super into the deep green leather bow bracelet she made for us. Check it out! “This is, actually, the first piece of art that I bought when I first moved here about eight years ago. It’s a Murakami. I loved Murakami—I still love him. At that point, it was when Japanese literature was starting to explode.” “Alex made this table—he designs furniture. The cool thing about this is that you can put books on that shelf—or a nice hat.” “All the displays I use for my jewelry are things that I found in my house in Mexico. My grandfather Francisco was an architect. I lay out necklaces on this book.” “This was a gift from my brother. It’s Banksy, and it was my birthday gift…and my Christmas gift, my birthday gift, my Christmas gift, for like four years.” “I love toolboxes. This is where I keep my jewelry.” “That’s lava, and this is an outdoor fireplace. My house in Mexico is in this part uptown called the Regal, and it’s all volcanic rock.” “I found these chairs on the street, and then Alex just refurnished it. I think, because it’s such a small house, everything has to stand out.”