About
Welcome to Balarmú: High craftsmanship in porcelain and ceramics.
Discover our handmade jewelry made in Spain, join our community and live with art all your ways of being.
High craftsmanship made in Spain
Balarmú is an independent artistic project that specializes in the design and creation of handmade porcelain jewelry in Spain.
We always use high quality raw materials to offer you something unique, original and with a deep symbolic meaning.
If you want to know more about how we make our handmade jewels, one by one, we tell you all about it in the section dedicated to the process of creating a handmade jewel.
What is Balarmú
Balarmú was born in Madrid in 2023, thanks to the collaboration between expert artisans in handmade ceramics and... "a stubborn dreamer".
Our greatest aspiration is the realization of an artistic collective, a free creative space where various artists from different disciplines can experiment and collaborate in the realization of works of high Spanish craftsmanship.
We are a small company from Madrid, but with international blood and multicultural vision.
Our project is born from the desire to combine forms and traditions of different cultures to create pieces that preserve the peaceful and enriching fruit of multicultural exchange.
Behind each Balarmú creation is an intense work of study and meticulous research to propose you something that, beyond its pure aesthetics, is a symbolic means to tell a story, a human value, an idea.
Our mission is to create handcrafted pieces that make you feel good and help you communicate to the world all your ways of being with art, culture, originality and above all, freedom.
Learn more about our brand values, vision and mission.
What we do
Handmade porcelain jewelry
We design, manufacture and enamel completely handcrafted jewelry in pure porcelain of the highest quality.
Discover here all our collections.
We embrace the philosophy of slow fashion, which is sustainable, slow and respectful of both the environment and the work of the people involved. In fact, to ensure the highest quality of each piece and to avoid any unnecessary waste, we do not have massive stocks and we produce on demand.
Each time we run out of stock in a collection, we begin the artisan process of creating a handmade jewel. This takes time, great attention to detail and, of course, a tremendous passion for what we do.
If you have more curiosities about our raw materials, findings or are looking for tips for the care of handmade jewelry, please consult the FAQ section.
Handmade ceramics
In addition to our handmade jewelry, we will soon offer you a wide range of handmade ceramics designed for the world of home decoration and interior design. All in pure Balarmú style.
So follow us on Instagram to stay up to date with the latest news and much more.
Custom projects, ceramic and porcelain orders
We also take custom orders and create all kinds of handmade ceramic and porcelain pieces.
If you are an artist, an organization, a store, a company, an individual...and you are looking for custom handmade ceramic pieces, visit our contact page or send us an email directly to info@balarmu.com putting in the type of query "custom order".
We can't wait to meet you and listen to the needs of your project to give life to your ideas.
What Balarmú means
It is an invented word derived from Balarm, the name by which Muslims called the Sicilian city of Palermo in the tenth and eleventh centuries.
"Piazza della vergogna", Piazza pretoria, Palermo, Sicily
In fact, since ancient times, Palermo has been one of the Mediterranean capitals that has hosted and nurtured more cultures and civilizations.
From the Phoenicians, the Carthaginians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Vandals to the Byzantines, the Muslims, the Normans, the Swabians and the Spanish.
All these dominations left an invaluable artistic imprint that saw the mixing of several socio-cultural heritages within the same nucleus.
In particular, during the Norman reign of Roger II of Altavilla, the city experienced a period of total peaceful coexistence between Christians, Muslims and Jews. What is technically defined as artistic syncretism was affirmed, that is, the natural hybridization between different aesthetic languages that, without imposing one upon the other, give life to a new perfect balance.
Capilla Palatina, Palermo, Sicily
The buildings of that period, which show the wonderful blend of Western, Byzantine and Islamic culture, have been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as a testimony to the fruitful coexistence of populations of very different origins and religions.
This same peaceful and enriching syncretism, adapted to the present day, is the driving force behind the entire artistic project of Balarmú.
In our creations we strive to study and achieve the harmonious fusion of different worlds and cultures.
From the Sicilian, Spanish, Muslim and Mediterranean cultures in general, to the civilizations and philosophies of the Eastern and Transatlantic worlds.
Who is Balarmú
We were saying that the project was born from the collaboration between an unstoppable dreamer (who is writing these lines) and experts in handmade ceramics.
But we want you to get to know us a little better.
Alessandro Barbera Formica
As you may have guessed from my name, I am Italian, more precisely Sicilian.
I have been lucky enough to travel and live in cities like London and Rome. However, years ago I moved to my beloved Madrid, so I consider myself Sicilian by birth, but Madrilenian by adoption.
In one way or another, my whole life has been dedicated to art. I started working at a professional level in the world of dramatic arts, then painting, drawing and playwriting, until I completely changed direction to dedicate myself to the world of digital marketing.
Years ago, I graduated in Translation and Intercultural Linguistic Mediation, and it was then that I felt the first urge to create Balarmú.
I have always been passionate about handmade ceramics.
As a Sicilian, I grew up surrounded by the unique beauty of the Sicilian pottery tradition.
The idea that the 4 elements of nature give rise to forms and life has fascinated me since I was a child.
At Balarmú, I am the dreamer: I am in charge of researching cultural resources and designing all the collections. My goal is to communicate the values of my brand. Values rooted in stories of peace, coexistence, tolerance, freedom and art.
I want you to see this project not only as a simple online store, but above all as a community where you can live out your values, your human values, in your daily lives through art.
If you have bought our creations, given them as a gift or are thinking of doing so, I would like to personally thank you for supporting my project and actively contributing to it.
Volupte
¡Cheers // Santé // Salud!
We are Eloïse and Alexandra, founders of Volupte: ceramic workshop and research studio for design and handmade products.
We collaborate with Balarmú, making their handmade porcelain jewelry.
We live and work in Madrid, but we look for inspiration in the Mediterranean landscapes of the unique and eclectic childhood we had in different corners of the world.
We are overwhelmed by the beauty that is life and in our work we try to reproduce its sensuality through the materials and textures present in nature.
We love the act, the process and the creation.
We love celebrations and good times, because Volupte is a tribute to the beauty and poetry of the moments between the moments of life.
Our work is based on design that blends materiality and functionality, nature and craftsmanship, craftsmanship and beauty.
We focus on the process, striving to make each creation reflect a sensory journey, always alive and in constant motion.
Our work is always based on the balance between materials, processes and customer needs.
We want our creations to evoke a state of mind that lasts far longer than a tan.
