The jeweler Bulgari has entrusted the third “Serpenti through the eyes of” to Mary Katrantzou, a Greek fashion designer well known to the maison – in 2019, its high jewelry pieces adorned dresses at her fashion show at the Acropolis. She draws on the theme of metamorphosis to reinterpret bags with a clasp featuring a snake’s head. Two are in leather, one with a sublime handle featuring an undulating body, while the other has been exquisitely embroidered with pearls. On the flap of the bag, the famous snake head in enamel lies at the center of a coiled body fragmenting into a cloud of  butterflies…. These insects, omnipresent in Mary Katrantzou ‘s work, fuse with reptile of the Italian jeweler, who is of Greek origin. In the ultimate metamorphosis: the snake head becomes the bag, the two merging into a single minaudiere. A remarkable work.

Sophia Vari has never been particularly fascinated by jewelry, nor even by precious stones. She began creating her works at the end of the 1980s out of frustration, when she was traveling to the four corners of the world with her husband, the sculptor Fernando Bottero.

Designers and jewelers the world over are fascinated by the figures of Greek mythology and the great names who have marked the history of this country, as these jewels amply testify.

Elé Karela (whose first name is really Eleftheria) creates contemporary jewelry featuring geometric forms and labyrinthine motifs.

Ioanna Souflia has sculpted the prestigious Thassos marble. An eternal witness of Greek history, harking back to monumental works of art and the sumptuous vestiges of Antiquity.

Myrto Anastasopoulou adores the tourmaline: a stone with an infinite variety of shades. She uses shaded tones and monochromes, adding diamond or emerald chips here and there.

Discoveries of this significance are extremely rare… Although long since plundered, it turns out that these two tombs of the Mycenaean civilization (between 1600 and 1100 BC) still conserved some elements of their treasure. The two American archaeologists from the University of Cincinnati (UC) have discovered inside a pile of gold leaf fragments that once covered the dark walls, along with pearls of malachite, carnelian and amber. As well as two gold jewels: a ring with two bulls and ears of barley engraved on it and a pendant representing the head of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love and beauty.

Since the trend has shifted to ancient-style jewelry, what better than to buy it from the master-jeweler Zolotas, who has just opened a shop in Paris. He creates pieces in yellow gold that’s hammered, in filigree, or engraved and features figures coming from ancient mythology. This Greek jeweler, whose origins date back to 1895, has contributed to spreading the jewelry tradition of its home country. Romy Schneider, Elizabeth Taylor and Jackie Onassis were among its top clients.

3, rue de Miromesnil – 75008 Paris