Special Features

Patina - By allowing the metal to oxidize with a solution, sterling silver becomes “Antique" and develops an aged look. With wear, your jewelry will take on its own personality, becoming a vintage silver shade know as patina.

 Standard Bail - The top portion of a pendant that a neck chain feeds through allowing a pendant to hang. Below is an example of a 'standard' sterling silver bail.

Standard Sterling Silver Bail Tapered Style	Standard Sterling Silver Bail Oval Style

 Hinged Bail - This pendant has a unique ‘hinged bail’ feature which allows the bail to open and close. Just clip it on or off any neck chain or bracelet!

Open Hinged Bail Rear View	Open Hinged Bails Front View

Hinged 18kt Gold Bail	Hinged Sterling Silver Bail

 Safety Clasp - ‘Easy Glide’ lobster claw style safety clasp, crafted of solid .925 sterling silver.

 

  .925 Sterling Silver - Silver is a precious metal and much like gold it is too fine (or soft) to be made in its 100% form. To prepare a precious metal for crafting jewelry to last a lifetime, pure silver (999 fineness) is often alloyed with small quantities of copper (7.5%), thus becoming sterling silver. (92.5% or .925). It is the finest quality sterling silver available. (.900 sterling silver is of lesser quality, which is commonly used in machine manufactured silver or plated jewelry) Special Note: Our products are solid sterling silver. Be aware that many products made in today's marketplace are called silver or sterling silver but are NOT! They are made of cheap 'pot metal' or 'base metal' and are plated with a silver overlay. If a piece of jewelry is described as 'alpaca silver', SP (silver plated), SF (silver filled), GP (gold plated), GF (gold filled), HGE (heavy gold electroplated) or EP (electroplated), it should be priced as such, dirt cheap! Read and ask questions before you make a purchase if you have doubts! Pieces Of Argentina guarantee each and every piece in our beautiful collection for total customer satisfaction!

 Leather - Argentina’s tradition of outstanding leather work is long standing and predates the Columbian period. And although centuries have pasted and these ancient skills have been perfected, many of the hand crafting techniques of long ago are still ‘the Argentine way’ in traditional leather craftings.

 Carpincho - Capybara - Carpincho, also known as the Capybara, is a South American mammal found in the Amazon Rainforest, Argentina, Panama, the Andes Mountains, Columbia and Uruguay. The beautiful and durable hide produces a soft, smooth leather reminiscent of suede leather but extraordinarily durable and rich looking. Although the Carpincho is found throughout Latin America, Argentina is the only country which produces these fine leather products.

Capybara Leather - Natural Color	Capybara Leather  - Black

 

 Collared Peccary - A relative of the warthog and sometimes called the ‘ javelin’ or ‘javelin-a.’       Found in wet and dry tropical forests, chaparral and grasslands of the La Pampa province of Argentina, Central America and the southwestern United States. MORE

Peccari Leather - Enhanced View	Sample of Peccari Leather

 Bovine Cow Hide Leather - Crafted of hearty yet supple, soft bovine cow leather. Beautifully top stitched and finished in black or brown. MORE

Black Bovine Cow Hide Leather	Brown Bovine Cow Hide Leather

 

Black & White Hair-On Cowhide Untrimmed Hair Hide	Brindle & White Hair-On Cowhide Shaved or Trimmed Hair Hide

 Waxed Needle Work - Traditional hand embroidered products created by the finest argentine craftsmen using top quality cowhide with an over-woven technique of lubricated (or waxed) threads in rhombus designs. (Rhombus = quadrilateral design of equal lengths) These products are beautifully bold and have tremendous durability !

 Guarda Pampa - Historically, the Indians known as ‘mapuches’ were the first known crafters or ‘weavers of the loom’. These elaborate weaves called ‘guard pampa’ created beautiful fabrics which are not only traditional but served a very important function. These weaves indicated hierarchy and the various thread colors depicted much more. For example, black was associated with nobility and red referred to blood or the bravery of a solider. Most often the traditional pampa weaves are made up of geometric designs using staggered crosses, rhombuses and double triangle shapes.

Waxed Needle Work	Loom Woven Guarda Pampa

 Snake Skin - Each of our one of a kind creations are inlaid using authentic exotic snakeskins found throughout South America.

Inlayed Snake Skin	Enlarged Inlayed Snake Skin

   Miraculous Medal - Meaning & Significants Of Front  

Mary is standing upon a globe, crushing the head of a serpent beneath her foot. She stands upon the globe, as the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Her feet crush the serpent to proclaim Satan and all his followers are helpless before her (Gn 3:15). The year of 1830 on the Miraculous Medal is the year the Blessed Mother gave the design of the Miraculous Medal to Saint Catherine Labouré. The reference to Mary conceived without sin supports the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary—not to be confused with the virgin birth of Jesus, and referring to Mary's sinlessness, “full of grace” and “blessed among women” (Luke 1:28)—that was proclaimed 24 years later in 1854.

The Meaning of the Back Side of the Miraculous Medal

The twelve stars can refer to the Apostles, who represent the entire Church as it surrounds Mary. They also recall the vision of Saint John, writer of the Book of Revelation (12:1), in which “a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of 12 stars.” The cross can symbolize Christ and our redemption, with the bar under the cross a sign of the earth. The “M” stands for Mary, and the interleaving of her initial and the cross shows Mary’s close involvement with Jesus and our world. In this we see Mary’s part in our salvation and her role as mother of the Church. The two hearts represent the love of Jesus and Mary for us. (See also Lk 2:35).

 Saint Benito / Saint Benidict

The Saint Benedict Medal - aka The Medal Of Saint Benito - aka Jubilee Medal Of St Benedict

 Alpaca Wool - Alpaca wool is classified as a rare specialty fiber. It is actually the wool derived from the South American 'camelid' species called the Alpaca or Lama Pacos, which inhabit the Andes Mountains of South America. This Alpaca fur, referred to as Alpaca fiber, is much warmer than sheep wool and more luxurious than cashmere! The Alpaca fibers are hand knitted out of handspun Alpaca fiber, creating these stylish and luxuriously shawls!                        Characteristics of Alpaca Fiber  - Alpaca fiber is strong, flexible and has more thermal capacity as compared to any other animal fiber. Alpaca fiber does not cause itching as wool often does nor does it 'shead' as angera hair will do. It is a soft, lightweight garment with outstanding insulation value!                                                                                 The two fibers most commonly used are either from Suri Alpaca, which is relatively long, straight, silky hair (fibers) and is exceptionally lustrous. Huacaya Alpaca it has comparatively short, curly, dense and voluminous fibers. 

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