A Jewelry Brand With Mexico at Its Heart

New York Times

20-05-2025

For decades the jewelry house Tane México 1942 has translated its Mexican heritage and identity into silver, drawing inspiration from items as diverse as kernels of corn, Oaxacan needlework and even Frida Kahlo's signature braids.
'We have a wonderful country with millions of stories to tell,' Michelle Pell, the company's chief executive, said during an interview at its flagship store, in the city's fashionable shopping district of Polanco.
And although Tane (pronounced TAH-neh) has ambitions to expand internationally, the brand 'will always be connected to, inspired by and rooted in Mexico,' said Ms. Pell, 43, who was born and grew up in Mexico City.
Sometimes the links are explicit. Think of almost any symbol or object typically associated with Mexico — the Virgin of Guadalupe, say, or a candy skull for Day of the Dead or even an avocado — and chances are a miniature version will be found in México Mi Amor, its ever-expanding line of charms (188 so far).
And sometimes they are more subtle. Its Xocolate collection, for example, includes rings in different designs and finishes that can be stacked, creating a look that suggests a molinillo, the wooden whisk used to froth Mexican hot chocolate.
While Mexico has been Tane's touchstone since the company's beginnings, it has focused on that connection more consistently in the past decade, according to Martacarmela Sotelo, 52, who became Tane's creative director three years ago after about a dozen years as one of its freelance designers.
For example, the Bordados collection (embroidery in English) recreates some of the intricate floral designs created by women in San Antonino Castillo Velasco, a small town in the southern state of Oaxaca. With help from the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, Tane worked with members of a local women's cooperative to select designs and pays royalties to use them.
The work was too detailed for a regular mold process, so Tane used a 3-D printer to create wax models for casting, replicating each needleworker's style and even the size of her stitches.
'It's really beautiful, because each stitch is the calligraphy of a different person,' Ms. Sotelo said. The Bordados Small Wave Bracelet ($1,080) won Best in Silver at the 2021 Couture Design Awards in Las Vegas.
In contrast, the Alma (Soul) collection is starkly simple, playing with the smooth, organic shape of a kernel of corn — a rich cultural symbol from pre-Columbian times to the present. The Alma Trilogy Earrings ($310) are clusters of kernels in sterling silver, 18-karat rose gold vermeil and 23-karat yellow gold vermeil.
Although the company uses advanced technology, it has continued to rely on the skills of its craftspeople, Ms. Sotelo said. 'All of our pieces still go through many hands.'
That was evident at a Tane workshop in the Mexican capital that develops jewelry prototypes and produces items such as silverware, sports trophies and sculptures. Artisans demonstrated tasks such as soldering a clasp onto a chain, setting rows of tiny lab-grown diamonds on a ring and assembling silver flowers into a necklace. (Most of the jewelry production is done at a second workshop, in the western state of Michoacán.)
The company has approximately 300 employees, including 110 in the workshops. And many of them have been with the company for years, such as Ernesto Montoya, 56, who joined Tane in Michoacán when he was 18 and has spent the past 20-plus years in Mexico City, where he leads the team that turns new designs into prototypes.
'This is part of my life, being here,' he said, adding with a smile, 'I've lived more at Tane than at my home.'
Homage to Frida
For the company's most recent jewelry collection, introduced in April 2024, Ms. Sotelo's creative team immersed itself in Frida Kahlo biographies and her diary and letters, to come up with designs that the artist, who died in 1954, might wear today. (Tane holds a license from the Frida Kahlo Corporation in Florida to use the artist's name and likeness.)
People may well disagree about 'whether we like or we don't like Frida,' Ms. Sotelo said; however, 'she was an extraordinary woman at a time when this type of women didn't exist.' And perhaps it was a fitting moment to recognize a high-profile Mexican woman, Ms. Sotelo said, pointing out that the collection's debut happened to precede the 2024 election of Mexico's first female president, Claudia Sheinbaum.
The collection, which Ms. Sotelo said has been the company's most successful, initially presented 44 pieces (with a few more added since and others planned) with a double knot as the unifying design element.
Carlos Melguizo, who carries Tane pieces at Carats, his jewelry and gift store in McAllen, Texas, said he liked the collection's understated elements, such as braided silver and a hand holding a paintbrush — 'little details that are more subtle, but you know it's Frida.'
Born in Texas and raised in Mexico, Mr. Melguizo, 63, said in a phone interview that he had known and loved the brand most of his life; his mother gave him a Tane gold cross pendant when he was 13.
Past and Future
Tane got its start during World War II. Its founders, Sergio and Natalia Leites, had fled Paris and settled in Mexico City, where in 1942 they opened a business selling leather goods. (The brand name was derived from the French word for tannery.)
When the couple started working with local metal smiths on the hardware for their handbags, belts and other items, Ms. Sotelo said, they discovered the high level of silver work in Mexico and began to shift the focus of the business.
Tane remained in the Leites family until 2010, when it was purchased by Grupo Bal, a Mexican conglomerate with holdings that include El Palacio de Hierro, a national chain of luxury department stores.
Tane jewelry is sold worldwide through Farfetch, and online in Mexico and the United States through its own platforms. Tane also can be found in its own boutiques in Mexico City; in El Palacio de Hierro stores in Mexico; and in some American jewelry stores.
Ms. Pell, who joined Tane in 2020 as commercial director and was appointed chief executive in April 2024, declined to give sales figures, but said that 2024 had been another record year for the company.
In addition to continuing to grow in Mexico, Ms. Pell said, the company also hopes to open stores abroad. Spain would be a logical possibility, she said, given Mexico's historical and ongoing ties to that country; so would parts of the United States.
Speaking in early March, she said that the uncertainty over U.S. tariffs meant that any company had to be prepared: 'I think the main thing, especially in industries such as ours, is to remain calm, be prudent and, as circumstances arise, continue to adapt.
'We must remember that in the long term, things eventually tend to settle down again.'