Alejandro Diaz lives in San Joaquin, a southern suburb of Santiago. He was born in Lima, Peru; and seven years ago he decided to leave his country for safety reasons. At this time, Lima was suffering terrorist attacks from guerrilla movements.

In Peru, Alejandro was working with organization whose role is essentially the same as what Comparte does.

One day, he traveled to Chile and noticed it was a calm and stable country. Afterwards, he decided to leave Peru with his wife and daughters (14 and 7 years old) to live in Santiago.

Alejandro's story has always been related to art. When he left school, he already knew that he wanted to become an artisan. When he was 17, he started creating and selling products on the street with some friends. And, at the age of 25 he began producing jewelry.

The workshop

Alejandro has been working with an assistant in the workshop for four years. He rents the house where he lives with his family and uses one of the rooms for his job. He is working seven days a week between 10 and 12 hours a day.

The main problem he is facing is the lack of machines and tools. Alejandro does not have money to invest in machineries. He actually has to go to another workshop to borrow their rolling machine. According to him, he wastes a lot of time because of a lack of equipment and better tools would allow him to increase his production and productivity.

Alejandro's most developed skill is design. When he arrived in Chile, he immediately realized that he had to adapt his art to local trends and preferences. Since then, he has designed more than 570 products. He has been adapting his items tendencies abroad according to what client's specific needs are but he also loves innovating and creating according to his imagination. Also, he constantly searches for new materials to use like leather, silver with steel, enamel, textiles… "Lots of ideas come to my mind all the time", he explains.

He produces a wide range of jewelry: pendants, rings, earrings, necklaces for adults and children.

Sales and relationship with Comparte

Alejandro sells his products in some specialty shops in Santiago. However, he estimates that he sells 70% of his jewels in foreign countries. One of his friends imports Alejandro's products to the USA (Oregon). He has been collaborating with Comparte since 1999. This has greatly helped him in finding new outlets aboard.

His workshop allows him to provide for his family. His wife is also an artisan, but works in a different location.

Dreams and projects

Alejandro's latest project is focused on saving money to invest in new machines for his workshop. He says that he manages to earn a living with his art, but it is a daily fight and hard work.

One of his dreams is to have his own exhibition place in his workshop where he could show and explain his art directly to customers.

When not working, Alejandro likes to watch cultural programs on TV and go to the countryside, out of Santiago.

Steps of production

1- Alejandro buys the silver
2- He goes to the other workshop to fuse it
3- When it becomes liquid, he puts the silver in molds
4- He laminates the silver to make tubes
5- He cuts the different pieces and welds them
6- Alejandro ends the process polishing the product, and adding precious stones

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