Long before vintage became the trend it is today, Sonny Rodriguez Benitez was already living it as a full-blown lifestyle. Transplanted to the vintage mecca that is Brighton at eighteen, she learned the ins and outs of the vintage world from its most devoted practitioners: Starfish Vintage, the coolest shop she worked for, and the silver-stacked, feathered-hat-wearing dealers of the Upper Gardener Street flea market.

The journey toward building her own vintage silver mecca, MANO, actually began even earlier. At sixteen, she was given her mother’s chunky silver bangle, a piece her mother had worn for decades, and it sparked a lifelong fascination with this particular corner of vintage: silver jewellery. The idea for MANO itself crystallised years later, in 2016, when she helped sort through her late grandmother’s jewellery collection with the family, an experience that stayed with her long after. These days, that fascination has grown into something closer to research: Sonny spends much of her free time reading and studying the anthropology of jewellery, why humans have adorned themselves since prehistoric times, and what that says about beauty, power, memory and desire. It’s a curiosity that now shapes every piece she curates, and one she shares more directly with readers of her newsletter.

Now her silver project is stepping into a new chapter: a 1600s canal house she’s spent the past several months renovating, soon to become the new home for her collection. Ahead of the opening this Friday, July 3rd, we caught up with Sonny to talk about her path from vintage admirer to full-time collector, and the slow, intentional work of building a space that finally feels like home.

Hi Sonia, how are you feeling today? 🙂

Hey Anastasia, I’m gooood, sun is out, temperatures are reasonable and it’s Monday, MANO salon doors are opening this Friday so I’m full of energy and excitement, 1223045 things in my mind, maybe even a little nervous, but mostly I am just happy!!

Could you introduce yourself to the Aa audience? 

So my name is Sonia but everyone calls me Sonny, Soni or Sunny or Son. You’ll rarely hear someone call me by my full name, unless it’s the Belastingdienst. I’m originally from the Canary Islands, I left home when I was 18. I lived in Brighton, London, Berlin and now Amsterdam. Although the city life took over me, I am still an island girl, I miss it every day and I go home very often. 

How did your passion for collecting silver jewellery start, and what draws you to silver specifically over other metals like gold?

Well, my mother has a great silver collection, which I deeply admire. At age 16 she gifted me some of her pieces, including my chunky every day bangle, which she has had since she was 30. Ever since I’ve been growing my collection slowly but very intentionally. When I was 18 and living in Brighton I discovered the meaning of vintage. Brighton really is a vintage mecca. Vintage never felt like a trend there, it is really a lifestyle. People chose second hand things over new things. In the city you really feel appreciation for the old well made stuff. I worked in the coolest family owned vintage shop throughout university – Starfish Vintage – and I lived right next door, Upper Gardener Street, where there was a street flea market every weekend.

In this market there was an old silver dealer, he had new finds every week, insane finds. He specialized in heavy weight antique pieces. He wore stacks of silver himself, leather pants and a fathered hat. A real character. I often couldn’t afford his pieces, but he noticed how hard I tried and would sometimes do a good deal. I remember saving up for a specific ring he kept aside for me until I could finally buy it. I still have it.

Looking back at this time, this market and Starfish made a huge impact in my appreciation for old pieces, durability, craft detail & stories. This time in Brighton really shaped my eye.

Can you walk us through the origin story of Mano? How and when did it take shape as a brand, and where does the name come from?

In 2016 when my dear grandma passed, we went through her jewellery collection along with a jeweller. We valued every piece by identifying the metal, stone, era, weight, etc. My mother took beautiful pictures of the pieces with leaves from my garden behind them. We divided the jewellery with the whole family. This process fascinated me and really stuck with me.

After many years working in vintage throughout different cities I realized that there was a huge demand for old jewellery, and I had the love and eye for it.

In 2023 & 2024 I was closely working for Concrete Matter, and I was very inspired by the owners, Bruna & Tomas. I told them about this idea of selling old jewellery, maybe starting with my own collection. I remember going to their house and talking through my whole idea, analyzing all steps of the process and potential challenges. They really saw it and believed in it from day one, they encouraged me to go for it and that’s all I needed to pull the trigger. Till this day every important decision I make goes through Bruna first.

That idea turned into a project, which suddenly turned into a brand, which then turned into my full time job. All very organically. I am a full time collector and seller now. Just like them!

MANO means hand in spanish <3 I never really thought about my brand name twice. I just knew that was going to be the name and so it is.

When you’re not sourcing silver jewellery, what can one catch you doing? (Aka what are your hobbies 😉

Honestly, reading and researching about jewellery. It is a subject I have taught myself, and the depths of information about it is infinite. Whereas at the start it was a lot about jewellery eras and craft details, for the last year, I have been fascinated by the anthropological aspect of jewellery. Why do we wear jewellery? There is evidence that humans have worn jewellery since prehistoric times. I am currently deep into studying the underlying motives of wearing jewellery. Beauty and erotism, power and politics, property and economics, religion and morality, desire, memory and emotions.

Looking at jewellery from this perspective has really made me appreciate my collection very deeply and elevates my sourcing process.

I am growing my jewellery book collection. I recently did a research salon where people came and explored my library. I love sharing sources and having reading sessions together.

I also often write about my research findings in my newsletter. Sign up to geek out with me!

What are some of your favorite pieces in your current collection, and why?

Every piece is my favorite piece and that’s a huge drama. I am very attached to everything that I select, because I pick them based on a criteria that makes each piece unique. That’s why I mainly focus on 1-1 appointments, the process of letting go turns into a beautiful experience. I pass on the piece onto the next person, which really took the time to pick their treasure.

I go through phases on what is my favorite thing to source though. For every sourcing trip I set an intention or a theme. It comes with a lot of prior research based on the country where I am going to source and the art history of the region. This summer I’ve been really enjoying hunting for earrings, they are a hard one to find, which makes it extra rewarding. 

Jewellery worn every day often carries memories with it, is there a piece you cherish for its history?

My mothers silver bangle. When I turned 16 she let me borrow one of her bangles, a thick silver piece she’d bought in Mexico in her thirties. It was worn, full of dents and scratches, and that’s what made it so beautiful. You could see the life it had lived. That bangle made me realise how special it feels to carry someone else’s stories – and from then on, I started looking for pieces with that same sense of wear and history. I still wear my mom’s bangle every single day. It’s my armour.

What role has Amsterdam played in shaping and inspiring the brand so far?

Amsterdam is where I’ve been living  for the past 8 years and I have built a solid group of friends, which are also now my family away from home, my community. Without these people around me and all the support I get from them, MANO wouldn’t really exist. Although I run the brand on my own, I am never really alone. It really takes a village to build a brand.

We heard you’ve been renovating a beautiful new space, a 1600s canal house — can you tell us the story of how that came together?

That’s right. Late last year my studio in Noord got sold, so I urgently had to find a new spot. Soon after I started my search I fell in love with a studio space in the center of Amsterdam. When I called, it was already in the process of being rented to someone else. They told me I could send an email and that if the current tenant didn’t go through, they would get back to me. They never did.

During one of the few viewings I did in February, I was offered another location. If I wanted it, I had a new studio. But after visiting the space one more time, I decided it was not for me, it just didn’t feel right deep inside of me. It was a hard decision to let it go. If I had said yes, everything would have been solved. I could have moved on with my life and stopped the dreadful search.

What I didn’t let go of was that first location I had as a reference. I kept looking at the pictures from the listing, daydreaming about it. So three weeks later I called again… and just like that it had suddenly become available. The tenant who was about to rent it had dropped out, just like I had dropped out of the other location myself.

The next day I had a viewing. The day after that I had to prepare a crazy amount of paperwork in Dutch. The day after that I had a meeting with the landlords. A few days later I paid a deposit, signed the contract, and received the key. It all felt good. Smooth. Unforced. It felt right. Now its mine!

What’s been the biggest challenge in making the space your own so far?

This unexpected turn MANO took has really tested me in ways I could have never imagined. Working on my patience has been a major learning. Things take time, building something with intention is a very slow process, especially if you don’t have the funding for it. In the last 5 months I had to stop with the building and furnishing process a few times, work hard to earn money and re-visit my ideas. I’ve had to work around my resources and possibilities. Everything in the space is obviously vintage or hand-made. Finding pieces with these requirements is extra difficult and slow.

Trusting my vision has been the biggest challenge. I work on my own so I have no source of immediate reassurance, someone that I can lock eyes with and understand if we are moving forward or pulling the plug. When there is a tight budget to work with and you have to make a million decisions a day, the doubt kicks-in. It’s been really hard to stick to the vision in moments where it just didn’t seem realistic. But I’ve managed, luckily, I stand behind every choice I made so far.

You’ll be sharing what you’ve been working on at an event on July 3th — what can attendees expect?

On Friday evening we are having a big opening evening, we are celebrating!!! The opening will take place throughout the whole building, not just my salon space. There will be a performance and we’ll be showcasing most of my jewellery collection in a very unique and unexpected way. For the opening, we are working with a huge team of talented creatives, mostly friends. Putting this event together has been a beautiful artistic process and a huge team effort.

Both Saturday and Sunday the salon doors will be open for everyone to come and see the space and explore the jewellery. No appointment needed, just ring the buzzer!!

What’s next for Mano? Where are you hoping to take the brand?

Next step for MANO is to stand still and truly enjoy what I’ve built without looking ahead too much. I try my best to leave room for processing and appreciate big steps.
The rest will follow.