Born in 1920 in Athens, Ilias Lalaounis was destined for a career in jewelry, being the descendant of Delphi goldsmiths and watchmakers. However, it was his talent and vision for design which made him burst onto the international scene, gaining a star-studded line-up of fans including Jackie O, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand and Charlize Theron.
Inspired by ancient art, Lalaounis' designs revived the copious use of 22 karat yellow gold, while most of his contemporaries were concerned with featuring single stones. Lalaounis also brought back to life age-old techniques such as granulation and filigree to create contemporary pieces that have a link to a distant past, like the Byzantine and Minoan civilizations.
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Lalaounis started his career working for his uncle, eventually taking over the company in 1940 and designing all of their jewelry collection. In 1968, Lalaounis broke away to form his own company, which, from 1957 to 2001, would create over 18,000 pieces of jewelry from 50 collections. He would go on to launch his brand in Athens, Paris, Geneva, New York, Hong Kong and London. Today, following his passing in 2013, Lalaounis' daughters have taken over the administration of the firm.
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The impact Lalaounis made on jewelry design during the 1960s and 1970s was incredible. In 1970, his 'Blow Up' collection caused a sensation. For the collection he draped his models in gold jewelry from head to toe - a look the conservative and diamond-obsessed jewelry market had never seen before.
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Hot on the heels of this sensational collection, Lalaounis organized an international exhibition of jewelry in Athens. Van Cleef and Arpels, Bulgari and Harry Winston were among the names who exhibited alongside Lalaounis - no doubt eager to see what the designer was going to do next and be part of his jewelry revolution.
In 1976, Lalaounis received one of his most important commissions, which would prove to be very inspiring for his portfolio. Her Majesty the Empress Farah of Iran commissioned Lalaounis to create a collection of jewelry and objects inspired by Persian art, which went on display at the Imperial Palace in Tehran. Another extremely important commission was for the Olympic torch, which he designed for the 1992 games in Barcelona.
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Lalaounis' contributions to jewelry during his lifetime did not go unrecognized. In 1986 he became the only jeweler ever to be inducted into the Académie des Beaux-Arts. His namesake museum was founded in 1994 in Athens and exhibits more than 3,000 pieces of his creation. And today, his bold jewelry creations, inspired by antiquity, fetch tens of thousands at auction.
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This is an updated version of the article originally published on April 11, 2017
