How much do they cost and how are the most expensive mates in the country?

They could be considered elite dunks. Their high prices are due to the materials with which they are made: cowhide, silver, gold, nickel silver and bronze, but also because they involve craftsmanship.

The jewel of the house

Some of the highest prices on the market are seen in jewelry stores, reaching $20,900 for a gourd mate with a silver and gold mouthpiece. Tuset Joyeros offers through its website and also through Mercado Libre various Creole silverware, among which is a silver light bulb with gold sconces that costs $26,460. If the complete set is purchased (the bombilla together with the mate already mentioned) it reaches $47,360.

In other jewelry stores you can find silver bulbs with gold sconces from $8,718 to $19,364. Each price varies depending on the craftsmanship that each one carries and the number of gold appliqués that it includes.

Silver mates, with gold appliqués and covered in leather can also be found from $10,255 to $13,645, in stores specializing in mates or in jewelry stores.

As for the thermoses, some of the most expensive cost $4,900 and are from the American brand Stanley, which added mates and also bombillas to its offer.

Mate lined with bovine leather.

Special dates

From Veroca Joyas they commented to Coffee & Business that mate, although it is a very traditional product, stands out in sales at two times of the year: Father’s Day and Christmas, as well as other Creole silverware items, such as daggers and buckles. Customers usually look for items of this type because of the possibility they have to personalize them, for example by recording names or special dates, such as anniversaries, they mentioned.

In that jewelry you can find silver bulbs with gold mouth that exceed $ 19,300.

Cristian Moreira, representative of the company Mates del Uruguay –manufacturer of mates in Paysandú– agreed, there are special harvests in which the sales of mates take offbut, in 2022 the market had a boomhe commented, and the demand increased, mainly for the so-called “Imperial mate”.

Imperial Matte

Unlike the “mate walker”, which is the one with a smooth metal ribbon on the edges of the mouth of the mate, the Imperial has a metal ribbon, belt-style, which is called the neck or guard, where various engravings and appliqués such as letters or shields can be added. Moreira said that some of the appliqués that clients usually ask for, in addition to names, are shields or flags of football or political parties.

Mate Caminero

“All our lives we live with gourd or flat mouthpiece mate and this is something different and it has all an artisan work,” he indicated and explained that letters or symbols are pasted on a bronze plate and then with a jigsaw by hand; then with a 45% or 60% graduation silver solder it is soldered on the metal.

At the moment, the Imperial continues to be one of the most sought after modelshe said, but this year the demand has stabilized and that is why some companies have begun to lower their prices, although, in some cases, this has not been possible because the price of the raw material has increased.

At Mates del Uruguay they work with ceramics, gourds, cowhide, alpaca and bronze, they sell products to the public and they are also suppliers to jewelry stores and shops. One of the increases in production costs that the company faced was the rise in the price of leather; the manufacturer explained that years ago a meter of leather cost $600 and now $1,300.

Metal customization for a matte.

Tips to make the mate last longer

One of the keys for a gourd mate to last longer is the thickness of the material, explained Moreira, since when removing the yerba from the mate after use, the spoon or bombilla used to remove the yerba will scrape from to little material, which, over the years, will weaken it. These mates typically last about 10 years if cared for properly, he said.

The mates of this type made in Uruguay are produced with Uruguayan or Brazilian pumpkins.

The best thing to do when you have a gourd mate is to cure it, he said, and for that there are various ways, there are those who put whiskey on it, those who burn it and those who leave traces of yerba on it. There is no single formula, he stressed.

As well as shoes or other leather objects, it is recommended that the mates not get wet or stay damp on the leather part, since that affects the material, he said. To maintain its shine and care for the material, leather can be treated with special shine products, the kind used for shoes or handbags, he added.