Frequently Asked Questions

What is VIP Monthly Membership Club?
AlvaroCoronado.com offers a VIP Monthly Membership club providing busy, fashion-minded men, woman and teens with an indispensable monthly treasured accessory created from eco-friendly tagua nuts, known as vegetable ivory, and sola wood flowers they can wear and use every day to expand, transform and diversify their wardrobe, their home, their workspace and/or their environment from ordinary to extraordinary.

By providing our monthly subscribers with these eco-friendly, sustainable it is our hope that before long collector’s piece will help transition self-conscious, inexperienced, and indecisive accessory consumers to skillful, confident and empowered fashionistas.

Once subscribed, a special mystery surprise gift box will arrive right at your door secretly waiting to be opened by you only to uncover a luxury fashion accessory driven by adventures and travels from far away exotic and remote destinations by master jewelry designer, Alvaro Coronado. Each month, each box reveals a unique accessory for you, or for your home or office specially chosen and offered to a limited subscription member.

Tagua Nuts also referred to as Tagua Seeds are harvested from the towering Phytelephas palm tree. The tree’s name translates to elephant plant, which is fitting, since jewelry made from it is compared to the beauty of ivory. Deep in the Amazon Rainforest lies a nut that when carved takes on the appearance of ivory. When the nut is ripe, it falls to the earth making collection safe. It absorbs dye like a dream and is commonly used to make jewelry and art. This nut is called Tagua, or vegetable ivory, and prompts the question- why is anybody still using ivory?

Tagua (pronounced TAG-WAH) grows on a tree that looks like a palm tree. The nuts are found inside spiny pods ("mocochas" in Spanish) on the tree, each pod can contain between 40 and 80 nuts. Harvesting the nuts does not disturb the tree’s reproduction, making Tagua an ecologically sound resource as well.

Much of our sleek, modern Tagua Jewelry comes from a workshop in Colombia owned by a third generation Tagua harvesting and artisan family of craftsman and women, who have over 30 years of experience with Tagua and were awarded the title of best small exporter in all of Colombia in 2013. They ensure employees are paid fairly and have health benefits and job security. Employees are encouraged to voice their opinions and safety precautions are taken around the machinery, which is housed in the large workshop with lots of natural light.  Although we are on another continent, we try to choose partners who care about the conditions we all value for healthy living, lifestyle, and time with family.

Sola Wood Flowers are made of shola from the Shola plant- which is a fast-growing and sustainable wood from India. The tapioca root is a renewable resource and a natural material, so they are eco-friendly and renewable.

Sola (or ‘shola’) wood flowers are made from a plant called Aeschynomene aspera (rolls off the tongue, right? No wonder they’re simply called ‘sola’!). It’s a plant that grows wild in marsh areas. Because it grows quickly, it is a renewable resource and one of the lightest known woods. The plant has a layer of bark that covers the internal, cork-like center of the plant (called the ‘cream’). In most flowers, the bark is stripped and the center is made into thin sheets. It is these sheets that are hand-cut to make sola wood flowers.

Sometimes, the bark is left on before the creation of sheets, creating a unique two-tone effect on the flower. These are called ‘bark’ or ‘skin flowers’.Native to regions such as India, and Thailand mostly,  it is considered one of the lightest woods in the world.

Above all, the VIP Accessory subscription box is a specially chosen accessory perfectly curated for the month, often following trends, seasonal events and colors while maintaining uniqueness that only comes with subscription membership.