He found his way in jewelry traveling around the world in search of precious stones

La vida de Bruno Gérez (33 años) como artesano experto en piedras está llena de viajes. El primero fue en 2010, cuando dejó su Artigas natal para venir a Montevideo a estudiar Educación Física.

Thinking about how to solve the expenses until I got work, he joined with his brother Montones de Piedras to be able to sell them in the capital. Del tema sabían porque sus padres fueron socios fundadores de la Cooperativa de Lapidadores Artesanos de Uruguay.

“While they did not dedicate themselves to that, all the stones courses studied when we were boys and took us to classes.With my brother we saw the stones, we chose them so that they would lapidate and we were there all day.I loved that world, ”he recalls.With the stones that was brought from Artigas, which included about 20 kilos that the owner of a quarry with which he swimed since childhood, first made a season at the Maldonado Bar.At that time I knew anything other than paste the stones with glue and pass them a thread.As he lost the test to enter Physical Education, he worked for a time in construction. Al año siguiente volvió a perder, así que resolvió averiguar qué tal era la Escuela de Artes y Artesanías Pedro Figari de la que le habían hablado. Hizo tres años de joyería, tres de engarzado y uno de lapidación de piedras (tallado).I was soon for the second great trip, to the East.

En febrero de 2018 se fue a Tailandia a una feria de gemas, joyería y herramientas que había en Bangkok en la que estuvo unos 20 días."I bought stones and I saw people working with super modern tools," he says.Pero su destino principal era Nepal porque quería conocer todo el estilo de joyería india. Llegó a la capital, Katmandú, sin saber casi nada de inglés para poder comunicarse.The same managed and "to the ponchazos," he says, he managed to make a student from a workshop to understand and take him with his teacher.

"They had certain types of very characteristic pieces there and offered them to pay them to do them and while I saw what the process was like.".He went to buy tools and material and sat on a table in the corner that assigned him.“While I already brought a lot of theory and practice, it is different how they get to the results.I would not have gone on that side if they had not shown me, ”he says.

De allí se fue un mes a la India, a la capital de las piedras que es la ciudad de Jaipur."It is impressive, there are whole neighborhoods of people who work with stones around the world and other styles," he says. La experiencia más graciosa la tuvo en el pueblito de artesanos de Pushkar, donde se topó con un artesano reconocido.“I showed him a piece of mine like 70 stones and folded it to me.I'm almost dying! ”He says.He also wanted to charge US $ 100 the four class hours, "which in India is a month of rent in a house," he says.

As refused, he ended up recommending his sister's classes, which charged US $ 5 all day."All the tables were on the floor in a small room, where there were about eight working," he describes.He made a small ring, then a giant bracelet and his companions, mostly French, English and Spanish, began to be close because they realized that he knew."In the end I ended up teaching and the teacher eating," he recalls between who even took a reprimand of Bruno when he used glue in a bracelet instead of waiting for him to gather it.

La siguiente parada fue el Taj Mahal, un sueño que tenía desde niño.He ran out of money and to return to Uruguay invented an importation of hemp fabric items he sold with a friend. De regreso en Montevideo luego de tres meses de viaje logró ingresar al Mercado de los Artesanos y a la Feria de Artesanos de Punta del Este, dos lugares en los que se mantiene hasta hoy. “Con todo lo indio mezclado con lo de Nepal y con lo que yo ya sabía de engarzado, joyería fina y cosas medio antiguas me hice un estilo propio”, apunta sin olvidar lo que le enseñaron su maestro Marcio Eloy, “uno de los mejores joyeros que conozco”, y Federico Tulipano, ambos de Artigas.Además, retomó contacto con Ari, la argentina que conoció en Valizas antes de irse de viaje y que terminó siendo su pareja."She paints, learned jewelry and works with me," he says.

With Ari he made the third trip.They had everything soon to go to Germany for a season, invited by a boy who sold stones, but in the end he threw back.There Bruno remembered a boy from Cádiz, Spain, who wanted him to go to teach jewelry, and there they marched. Terminaron en el balneario Los Caños de Meca, sin poderle vender a nadie, así que decidieron “turistear”.They were in a friend's house in Barcelona, under which there was a Colombian jewelry workshop..

“I went to sell the silver I had prepared for the Spanish, saw my things and proposed to give me a course to work to those who were going to work.We fixed to do it at will, I went with a friend of secretary, I gave an intensive course and ended up winning that day at will than in the whole summer in the market.I did about 250 euros in six hours, ”he recalls.Then they rent a car and went to tour the beaches of Portugal. De ahí fueron a Turquía, donde había mucho de joyería por aprender, y finalmente otra visita a la India.

"I wanted Ari to know India and almost died because he left muscular and shortcito and the Indians were thrown up," he says about what usually happens with the Indians when they see Western women."We brought stones, ideas, everything," he adds.Volvieron al Uruguay en 2019 y al poco tiempo comenzó la pandemia.In 2020 they were concentrated in the confinement and in the summer 2021 they could make season in Punta del Este, which decided to move to Maldonado, where they have been installed since April.

“En algún momento me gustaría poder dedicarme más a hacer piezas artísticas, únicas, mucho más elaboradas, exponer en galerías de arte o en ferias”, proyecta Bruno como próximo gran viaje, pero esta vez en Uruguay.