by Michael J. Crosbie

A jewelry shop designed as a jewel box is certainly not a new idea, but the designers of the Joyeria SH2K shop in Santiago, Chile, have taken it to a new level. Architects Paola Kaiser and Cristóbal Gross have created a ribbon of concrete and glass, crystal and chrome, as a cool, elegant setting for the display of jewels.

The Joyeria SH2K store is located in the Vitacura neighborhood of Santiago, in the eastern part of the city, at the foot of San Cristóbal Hill, home to the greatest metropolitan park in the city.

The jewelry shop’s Alonso de Córdova Street address gives it loads of caché. Alonzo de Córdova Street is to Santiago what Fifth Avenue is to New York and the Champs-Elysées is to Paris — a commercial and cultural axis lined with international and exclusive shops. (Louis Vuitton and Hermes have boutiques on either side of the SH2K shop.) Alonzo de Córdova is also home to art galleries, high-end restaurants, and coffee bars. The few blocks around Joyeria contain some of the finest retail establishments in Santiago. In response, the retail architecture of Alonzo de Córdova Street is one-of-a-kind, as each shop takes its place as a unique object on the thoroughfare.   >>>

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SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Like a "perfectly cut and mounted diamond," the Joyeria SH2K jewelry store is "set within its context to maximize its luster". Photo: Giuseppe Brucculeri The interior of the Joyeria jewelry store was designed for simplicity. Photo: Giuseppe Brucculeri   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.