XL Ivy necklace

Shelter is about warmth and cover: not only being a refuge, but finding one. Maite designed this collection while she was pregnant with Mikel, her second child, and that is exactly what it is about.

Ivy explained it better than anything. A climbing plant looks for its refuge, shelter from the sun, and knows which way to move. They are incredibly clever: they keep shifting until they find what they need.

Of all the Shelter pieces, this necklace is the whole ivy. Not a single leaf: a branch making its way around your neck, with leaves of many sizes, as you see it when you get close to a wall in autumn.

Shelter was born in autumn, hence the leaves. Because Maite has always felt that time stands still when you look at the trees in that season and watch them change colour.

Each leaf is worked by hand, its veins are marked and it is curved so it has movement. Then the leaves are fitted onto the branch, looking for the untidy order of a real climbing plant.

Then it is matted and receives the white bronze plating, the 24-carat gold plating and a final hypoallergenic coating. In the autumn red version, each leaf is enamelled by hand with bisphenol-free enamels.

It is made on Calle Alameda, in the Barrio de las Letras, in a workshop you can visit.

It is a statement piece: with a crew-neck jumper, an open shirt or a black dress. It doesn't need big earrings; the small Ivy earrings are the perfect companion.

The chain is 45 cm long. If you need a different length, ask us.

The hypoallergenic coating protects the piece from contact with skin and perfume. Keep it dry and on its own, and avoid putting on perfume while wearing it. With normal use and this care, the gold plating lasts for years.

Store it laid flat so the leaves keep their shape.