Spanish jewelry brand Uno de 50, with Inquirer Lifestyle and Hinge Inquirer held Tuesday a special benefit auction to launch the latest LOOK mini book edition, “Help! I’m a Shoe Addict,” at SM Makati.
Inquirer Lifestyle columnist Tessa Prieto-Valdes played host and auctioneer as eight beautifully handcrafted pieces from Uno de 50 went up for bids.
The artisanal handcrafted jewelry only has 50 pieces for each style, making them unique and exclusive. A portion of the sales will be donated to Aklat, Gabay, Aruga Tungo sa Pag-angat at Pag-asa (Agapp) Foundation.
The foundation promotes the importance of education and believes that becoming fully literate is the way to freedom, achievement and success.
Agapp was founded in by Pinky Aquino-Abellada, who is its chairperson, and was represented at the auction by her sister Ballsy Aquino-Cruz. Agapp’s goal is to uplift disadvantaged communities by improving the access of the poorest Filipino children age 3-6 to preschool education.
Included in the auction were necklaces and body chains.
A necklace-belt made of various leather and silver-plated metal beads was snapped up by Swatch maven Virgie Ramos.
Celebrity doctor Vicki Belo, who was escorted by Dr. Hayden Kho Jr., bought two pieces: a silver-plated metal necklace-belt consisting of a plaited chain, and a necklace with several rows of tube-shaped beads and silver-plated metal clips.
Prieto-Valdes herself took home a four-strand necklace with metal beads and Swarovski Elements crystals.
Asian Dragon publisher Olivia Limpe-Aw won the bid for a long-strand silver necklace with a handmade keyhole pendant.
Publicists Toni Palenzuela and Annie Ringor of Bridges PR each bought a necklace, an exclusive piece with blue and grey faceted Swarovski Elements crystals for Palenzuela, and a style with a blue Swarovski pendant for Ringor.
Thirty-two jewelry pieces were sold, including the eight auctioned items.
The crafting technique is one of the pillars of Uno de 50 philosophies. The creation of each piece involves an artisan process unique in jewelry-making—from the initial sketch to the carving, etching and manual refinement, all done by experts in workshops in Madrid, Spain, site of the brand’s main offices.
Founded in the late 1990s by a group of designers, the brand started out with the original philosophy of creating only 50 units of each design, hence the trademark name. It was launched last year in the Philippines in partnership with SM and now has four outlets: SM Aura, SM Makati, SM MOA and SM Mega Fashion Hall.
“Help! I’m a Shoe Addict,” meanwhile, is the second LOOK mini book by Carmencita Sioson and Stefanie Cabal, a follow-up to the bestseller “Help! I’m a Bagaholic!,” which was released last year.
To launch the tome, some high-fashion shoes on loan from fashionistas featured in the book were exhibited at the SM Makati venue.
There were four pairs (Aquazzura, Alaia, Givenchy) from actress Iza Calzado, who attended the launch. Celebrity doctor Aivee Aguilar-Teo also loaned a Christian Louboutin and two Nicholas Kirkwood pairs.
There was also an exquisite patent pump that resembled Ming porcelain by Charlotte Olympia, owned by TV host Kim Jones-Rosales; Jimmy Choo platform heels from Shoephoric.com’s Ann Jacobe, and a Miu Miu snakeskin pair from model Mika Lagdameo-Martinez.
PHOTOS BY ALANAH TORRALBA
