Before SACH Atelier existed, there were other ideas, many ambitions to start a business, and a mobile-case brand named Chai. Lola and Alejandra, who in addition to being partners were sisters, began to create it while studying at university, making each piece by hand: they punched holes in the cases, attached the rings, and assembled the pendants one by one. The project grew so much that one day, after a family argument (like any other), their mother kicked them out of the house and they ended up sitting on the sidewalk on the street next door, taking orders so as not to lose a single afternoon of work. “Orders kept arriving and there we were, on the sidewalk, finishing them one by one,” the two recall with laughter.
Entrepreneurship had always been part of their lives. “Since we were 18 years old we have always been very entrepreneurial. We loved having ideas and, almost without thinking about it too much, trying to turn them into businesses,” Alejandra explains. After Chai, they joined Manuela, their cousin, who also had a bracelet brand, and together they decided to create SACH. At first they kept both projects, but there came a moment when they had to choose. “SACH wasn’t our first idea, but it was the first one we decided to devote all our time and energy to,” explains the cofounder. We launched without having it all clear and learned on the job. “If we had waited to know perfectly how everything worked before starting, we probably would never have done it,” she reflects.
The sign that SACH was starting to become something more serious arrived when they no longer fit in the dining room at home. The boxes, the pieces, the pliers and the orders had invaded every space, so they needed their own place: “Suddenly we had a place to go to every morning, schedules, meetings… and something that had started from the dining room was becoming a real company.” That change marked the beginning of a new stage, although the way of working preserves something of those early years: trying, making mistakes, and finding a way to make their ideas come true.
SACH Atelier/ Bruma Earrings
This is the process behind SACH’s jewelry creation
Behind each jewel there is much more work than meets the eye. Finding artisans, suppliers, materials, and techniques can become a months-long search. “We go crazy trying to find new artisans, suppliers, materials, techniques and ways of making things that many times we don’t even know if they’re possible,” they say with the same enthusiasm as at the beginning. As they explain to me, they are especially demanding about quality and how each piece feels in the hand. Intuition is usually the starting point, but then comes the obsession with details: one extra centimeter, a color that doesn’t fully convince them, or a shape that doesn’t work as they expected.
Before achieving a definitive piece, they test samples, modify designs, and discard proposals in which they have invested months. “Before arriving at a final piece we have said ‘no’ twenty times,” they explain. One of the designs that best represents their evolution is the Choker Rayo, one of the first pieces with which they felt they were building their own language. “It’s a piece that represents SACH quite well,” they say, happy that it continues to be one of their best-selling products years later.
Earcuff by SACH Atelier
That identity also explains why they have decided not to design following trends. Although they acknowledge that it would be easier to bet on what they know will work at any given moment, they prefer to follow their intuition and create pieces that fit the brand’s universe. “For us it is much more important to create a trend than to follow it.” They believe that personality is what allows a piece to keep sparking interest beyond a passing fashion. A philosophy that accompanies SACH as its creative universe reaches new audiences, also outside Spain.
“Creativity needs a lot of order to be able to look spontaneous,” they explain. Each piece has to work beyond its appearance: it matters how it is made, how it feels, and how it sits when worn. For them, the balance between craftsmanship, design, and desire is fundamental, because falling in love with an idea is just the beginning; after that you have to make it actually work.
And what would we find if we spent an entire day in their atelier? “Our magical chaos,” they reply. Thousands of samples on the tables, packages arriving at all hours, a crying baby, dogs that scare them when they bark, and grandma bringing croissants while helping in Paola’s workshop. Amid all that movement, ideas also arise that sometimes stay pending because there is no time to develop them. “We are an all-young-women team and there is a lot of motion,” they explain with ease. But when the time comes to concentrate, each one retreats into her own world and gets to work.
Comet Earrings by SACH Atelier
Creating a company has also meant learning to live with constant responsibility: “SACH is like our baby; we think about it all the time. There’s always something to improve, a new idea, or a problem to solve, so disconnecting isn’t easy.” Even so, they live it with enthusiasm because they feel the brand is part of them. “It has grown with us and we have grown with it.” That very personal relationship helps to understand why they remain so involved in every decision.
When they imagine SACH ten years from now, they do not want to lose what has defined it from the beginning: “Hopefully in ten years we’ll still do things with the same enthusiasm and intuition.” From those handmade mobile cases to their current jewelry universe, their story is marked by the drive to undertake, the attention to detail, and the decision to do things their own way. Because, as their beginnings show, you don’t always need to have everything clear to start: a single idea and the desire to carry it forward are enough.
