As an admirer of bold, colorful, wearable costume jewelry, I’ve had my eye on pieces by José and María Barrera for quite some time. Every now and then I’d pop into Neiman Marcus, especially during the early 2000s, and give their jewels a glance. While I enjoyed the eye candy, sticker shock sent me back to foraging flea markets and antique malls for my costume jewelry finds. Eventually, I did run across a couple of Barrera items I snatched up secondhand, and I’m still wearing them as part of my regular rotation of fashion accessories.
It wasn’t until later that I learned the Barreras hailed
