Craft · 1 October 2026 · 3 min
Mompox: the river town where filigree never stopped
On an island in the Magdalena river, goldsmiths have twisted silver and gold thread into lace-like jewellery since the colonial era.
Santa Cruz de Mompox was founded in 1537 on an island in the Magdalena, Colombia's great river, and grew rich as a port between the coast and the interior. When the river changed course in the nineteenth century the trade moved on, and the town was left remarkably intact — a UNESCO World Heritage site of whitewashed streets and wrought-iron windows.
The craft
What never left was filigree. Mompox goldsmiths draw silver or gold into fine wire, twist two strands together, flatten the twist and then shape it, piece by piece, into frames that are soldered into earrings, pendants and the town's famous fish and flower motifs. The work is done by hand, in family workshops, and the technique is passed down within them.
What to look for
Handmade filigree has tiny irregularities — in the twist, in the spacing of the curls — that machine-made versions lack. Weight matters too: a piece should feel substantial for its size. And provenance matters most: a maker's name, a workshop, a town.
Our jewellery edit will name the workshop on every piece.
