Rescuing a trade

Éxō is a Chilean brand of accessories and objects made with the ancient technique of enamel on metal, created by Rosario Grez and Rosario Sánchez, inheriting the craft of the Taller Grez Armanet. This was founded in 1970 by the married couple Enrique Grez and Isabel Armanet, with the work of different enamel on metal techniques inspired by Byzantine art, mosaic, Orthodox icons, Visigothic art, Catalan art, limonges and other techniques such as reliefs, engravings, assemblies of various metals, combination of embossing and settings of semi-precious stones such as agates, lapis lazuli, jasper, turquoise among others. In addition to European medieval and Renaissance art, they delved into Quito and Cuzco art for the restoration of embossing and religious images. Dedicated primarily to sacred art, they have made more than one hundred tabernacles distributed throughout Chile and abroad, as well as candlesticks, lamps of the Blessed Sacrament, Stations of the Cross, monstrances, chalices, ciboria, crosses, crosiers and everything necessary for the liturgy.

Today, with Éxō, the daughter and granddaughter of the founders of the Taller Grez Armanet return to their beginnings and respond to the demand for objects that do not belong to the sacred world, but that rescue the beauty of that technique.

For the first line of accessories, they present a collection of pins based on Chilean insects, taking on certain shapes, colors and characteristics, but without being literally guided by them.

The brooches are made of enamelled bronze and follow a meticulous artisanal process. To begin with, research was done on insects and each one was abstracted into a simple, replicable design through drawing. After cutting them, they go through an old acid etching system that allows for greater texture to be generated for each insect and volume through embossing. The next step is enamelling, which sometimes requires 2 or 3 layers, and finally comes polishing and welding of the brooch. Despite being an artisanal work, with the incorporation of the design, some processes have been systematized for the generation of stock. Currently, they have developed more collections: Insects of the World and Flowers of Chile, which are complemented by insects and thus increase the possible combinations.