At the foot of the Peregrina, in Pontevedra, for 160 years

The voice of Galicia

PONTEVEDRA CITY

The Herederos de Suárez Jewelry store opened its doors in 1856 in premises in the center of Pontevedra. Today, after so many years of activity, its legacy continues in the hands of Monchi and Valentín, its owners.

Monchi's youth was marked by the memory of seeing her father working in the family jewelry store. She helped from a very young age at Christmas and on special occasions, later on, she wanted to try her luck and continue with this business. She did well, and, after five generations and being the oldest jewelry business in Pontevedra, today, she bears her last name: Heirs of Suarez Jewelry.

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A tour of Monchi's predecessors will make everything easier to understand: it all started with Manuel Suárez Piñeiro, approximately 160 years ago. Since then, four more generations have echoed this legacy and have continued working so that this classic jewelery shop in the center of Pontevedra is not lost. But it was not always located there; its beginnings were on Calle Michelena, with a small jewelry store that, over time, became a gift shop where you could find glassware, crockery, jewelry... A few years later, and just a few meters apart, they moved to Calle Oliva, and it is now, after three generations, more or less 53 years, that they keep their most valuable memories at the feet of the Pilgrim Virgin, in the center itself.

Due to the death of Manuel, the jewelry passed into the hands of Valentín, his son, or, as many knew him in Pontevedra, Prin de las ratas, an affectionate nickname that, to this day, only those who add many years will remember. . The legacy continued, and the inheritance passed into the hands of the brothers Emilio and Eladio. Business was booming, and both projected the most prominent image of the establishment. It was on wheels and was already well known in the city. The fourth generation of the Suárez family makes Monchi interested in this business. His father, Emilio, continued the legacy with his brother, Valentín. Years later, the latter's son, Valentín, joined to follow in the footsteps of his father and his uncle. Monchi continues as his family and today, he leads the business together with his cousin, Valentín Suárez, who both form the fifth generation of jewelers.

Monchi started working in jewelry when he was only 20 years old. The end of his studies and the curiosity to learn made him delve deeper and deeper into this world. "I started because I liked it and my father was in charge, I was an employee, like any other," she recalls, but, after seven years, her father dies, leaving the business in the hands of Monchi, her daughter, and her cousin. Valentine.

«It was when I had to take charge of this with Valentín, who had already worked with my father. It was a hard start, when my father died I was very young”, says Monchi, and it is that the beginnings in any business are complicated, and more so in one like this. The work is quite and very demanding, “there are many things to attend to, things that you are not used to, that at first come to you suddenly. Then you assume them a little more ». And it is that the hard blow of the lack of a father made Monchi get down to work. Monchi, like many other people, was struck by her father's dedication to this passion, which today makes her his own. "You've been seeing it all your life, someone has to continue the business, the world of jewelry is a beautiful world," says Monchi.

Day after day, faces of well-known people appear who make the jewelery a very distinguished meeting point in the city of Pontevedra. "People come to the jewelry store, they tell you about their life, their problems, we have clients who have been coming for many years, sometimes they simply come to talk." And that is the beautiful part of this business, known to any Pontevedra, which has had its doors open since 1856.

In 2017, the now owners and heirs of the jewelry store started a very particular project: “Jewels with history”. It is about capturing the best-known images of Pontevedra in bracelets, chains or necklaces. They already did it with the rose window of the church of San Francisco -which was a success-, now, they continue with this initiative, since the people of Pontevedra are deeply rooted in the city.

And it is that, at the feet of the very Virgin of La Peregrina, is this business with history, which was seeing the light passing from grandparents to parents and from parents to children and, to this day, continues with its doors open , as if it were the first day.

© Copyright LA ​​VOZ DE GALICIA Sapolígono de Sabón, Arteixo, A CORUÑA (SPAIN) Registered in the Mercantile Registry of A Coruña in Volume 2438 of the Archive, General Section, on pages 91 and following, sheet C-2141. CIF: A-15000649.