Atteza’s unique features

Atteza pieces are handmade and crafted entirely in Bogota, Colombia. They are completely nickel and lead free, and 24 Karat gold plated. We pride ourselves on using only the highest quality materials sourced from socially responsible suppliers, supporting a community of local artisans and craftsmen constituted in its majority by women, head of the family. Each Atteza piece goes trough a lengthy manual fabrication process to ensure long-lasting quality.

What are Atteza pieces made of?

Pewter is the raw material chosen to create Atteza pieces. Pewter is a safe precious metal alloy, free from lead and completely hypoallergenic, making it a sensible option for allergy prone or sensitive skin. Our pewter is sourced in Bolivia from highly reputable suppliers and meeting the highest requirements for lead-fee safety standards.
Pewter specific malleability allows the creation of beautiful intricate details and organic shapes inspired by zoomorphic earthy figures like the jaguar, the frog, and the snake and the weighless vaporous figures of the eagle, the condor and the butterfly all representative of Atteza collections. 

A quick look into the process

The first original piece used to create the molds is first sculpted by hand using a mixture of paraffin and waxes emulating the same techniques developed by ancient pre-Columbian cultures. The “lost wax casting” technique allows the pieces to preserve the manual details of the sculptor and makes every batch unique.

Once each piece is casted and inspected a delicate manual process of detailing sanding and assembly starts. Each piece is polished and detailed by hand. Pieces destined to be earrings pins and rings go trough an additional process of manual assembling using little fire torches to weld parts together. This process truly shows the dexterity and manual ability of the worker, since there is a high risk of damaging the entire piece in this particular stage.

The piece is finished trough a complex chemical process using copper and bronze immersions to prepare it for the final 24K gold plated process. We use a cataphoretic coating in a dry oven to improve the durability and protection of the piece, so you can wear Atteza for years and years to come.

Gold plated: 24 Karat vs.18 Karat

A karat, when used with gold, is a unit of purity, 24-karat gold is pure gold, to obtain 18K or the so called “Italian gold 750” nickel and other metals  are added to mix. Nickel is well known to induce irritations in sensitive individuals. To preserve the quality and integrity of the pieces and avoid any harmful reactions all Atteza pieces are gold plated in pure 24K with absolutely no nickel or other metals added.