Born in 1920 in Athens, as the descendant of Delphi goldsmiths and watchmakers, Ilias Lalaounis was destined for a career in jewellery. 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 22kt 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 civilisations.
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Lalaounis started his career with his uncle, eventually taking over the company in 1940 and designing all of their jewellery collection. In 1968, Lalaounis broke away to form his own company, which, from 1957 to 2001, created over 18,000 pieces of jewellery 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.
The impact Lalaounis made on jewellery 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 jewellery from head to toe, a look the conservative and diamond-obsessed jewellery market had never seen before.
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Hot on the heels of this sensational collection, Lalaounis organised an international exhibition of jewellery 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 jewellery revolution.
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In 1976, Lalaounis received one of his most important commissions, which proved to be particularly inspiring for his portfolio. Her Majesty the Empress Farah of Iran commissioned Lalaounis to create a collection of jewellery 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 jewellery during his lifetime did not go unrecognised. In 1986, he became the only jeweller 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. Today, his bold jewellery creations, inspired by antiquity, fetch tens of thousands at auction.
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This is an updated version of an article originally published on 11 April 2017.
