In vibrant Mykonos beats the heart of fashion and luxury goods. Consequently, it’s here that one can find the finest jewellery brands. Let’s meet the worldwide most acclaimed Greek jewellery designers and their hot spots in the island:
ilias LALAoUNIS: Distinctive hand-crafted art in unique collections inspired from ancient Greece. ilias LALAoUNIS has become renowned for creating luxurious gold jewelry steeped in history. Lalaounis creations represent a synthesis of past and present, a unique interpretation of ancient civilizations or cultures translated into modern idiom. Influences as diverse as the Neolithic age, Mycenaean art, the Byzantine era, pre-Columbian architecture as well as science and nature, have all inspired the creator’s collections. Age-old techniques such as granulation, filigree, hand-hammering and repousse are used in creating the exquisite Lalaounis jewelry which keeps alive and renews a 4.000 year old tradition in Greek art. Over the years, a great numbers of celebrities have admired and worn ilias LALAoUNIS jewelry and always stop for a view of the latest collections at the Mykonos store.
Minas Studio: Unique, elegant handcrafted jewellery designs, all personally signed by Minas himself. His collection includes gold, sterling silver and porcelain rings, bracelets, earrings, chokers, watches, pendants, necklaces and classy porcelain items. Minas trained as a goldsmith and from the age of 15 knew exactly what he wanted to achieve. At the age of 30 he went to America, where he lived and worked for 11 years in New York City as a freelance and established his presence as a designer, creating pieces in gold and silver as solid materials, but never used stones. In 1980, he moved his studio back to Athens to begin a new limited production of personally signed pieces. Minas has continued his tradition and still personally signs every piece he creates. In 1983 begins to experiment in industrial design and applies his engineering skills to the improvement of his workshop. From 1986 devoted himself to architectural design and constructs an extraordinary house on the Greek island of Mykonos, marrying Cycladic tradition with modern ideas. Designs furniture and works in marble, wood and stainless steel. The same year begins his cooperation with Georg Jensen Silversmith on a range of designers products as well as on a large collection of silver and gold jewellery.
Rousounelos: Centrally located on the main street of Mykonos, Rousounelos is a glamorous shop specializing in excessive watch and jewelry design. Retailing to numerous customers through three generations, the Rousounelos reputation developed due to an acute understanding of superb craftsmanship, style and moving trends, together with repeated customer satisfaction. Recognized for this consistent level of excellence, world leaders in jewelry and watch development selected Rousounelos as their exclusive certified representatives and distributors for the island of Mykonos. To have been accepted as dealers for the families of Cartier, Rolex, Piguet, to name a few, proves without a doubt the integrity of the Rousounelos name and its guaranteed standard of high class.
Kessaris:Mykonos and Kessaris have been writing history on the same page since 1996, when the famous bar Vegera – one of Chora’s most popular meeting points – was converted into a highly attractive Kessaris store, beautifully appointed and in complete harmony with the Cycladic architectural tradition. The store is full of timeless elegant jewellery bearing his signature and some of the world’s most prestigious brands, featuring rings, wedding rings, necklaces & pendants, bracelets, brooches, crosses, cufflinks and charms with gemstones of unique beauty and delicacy.
http://www.kessaris.gr/en/index.php
DA Anagnostopoulou: The diamond expert! Elle Amber, the designer, whose real name is Elina Anagnostopoulou, has been brought up in a jewellers family environment. Her father and great grandfather were in the jewelry business, so it was natural for Elle to follow in their footsteps. Elle studied Art History and for many years was an antique dealer, specializing in Art Nouveau and Art Deco works of Art. After 7 years of representing Lalique Crystal in Greece, she decided to follow her family’s tradition and joined the family business by designing for the Athens and Mykonos stores.She studied at GIA (Gemological Institute of America) and became a Diamond expert. In 2009, Elle launched her own brand by the name of Elle Amber.