Xibalba

"Xibalba" (pronounced shee-BAL-ba) in the Mayan language means "the place where stones are born." It's also the name of a jewelry workshop founded in 2012 in Antigua Guatemala.

Xibalba's thing is jewelry made with Guatemalan jade - a stone the Maya considered sacred. The jade comes from the rivers of the Sierra de las Minas, a mountain range in eastern Guatemala, while the gold and silver come from recycled metals. Jewellers and stone carvers turn all of this into rings, earrings and bracelets with a clean, contemporary aesthetic. No ornamentation for its own sake - just form, texture and material.

And here's what makes it interesting: at Xibalba you can not only buy a piece of jewelry but make one yourself. The jade carving workshop lasts around four hours: you choose your own stone, carve it, sand it and polish it. And you leave with a piece of jewelry you made with your own hands.

The workshop and shop occupy a colonial house from the 18th century - unassuming from the outside but elegantly restored inside - on Calle Poniente, a two-minute walk from Parque Central. And while jade is sold everywhere in Antigua - at markets, souvenir shops and street stalls - most of those pieces are of unknown origin and unremarkable design. Xibalba is something else: contemporary, considered jewelry made from genuine jade, crafted right in front of you.