Jewelry and bijouterie in the Greek style

The Greeks highly valued art out of love for beauty. “The body was considered the best decoration of a person ...”, and drapery on clothes emphasized its best forms and masked flaws. The Greeks emphasized nobility and dignity with a developed and trained body, beautiful posture.

In jewelry, they preferred harmonic perfection. In the 18th century, interest in ancient art arose in France, and this was facilitated by numerous archaeological excavations that filled the museums of the world with unique masterpieces of Ancient Greece. The ideal of beauty in antiquity was simple and perfect forms.

Ancient Greek master jewelers left us wonderful examples of artistic creativity in jewelry as a legacy.

Often decorations in ancient Greece were accompanied by ornamentation. In ornaments, the masters preferred strict symmetry and geometric lines, right angles, combinations of all kinds of wavy lines. Jewelers used the image of aloe leaves, grapes, ivy, laurel, acanthus, oak, honeysuckle flowers, olive tree. The meander was widely used - square and round. A certain order and symmetry were observed in the arrangement of ornamental compositions.

Jewelry in the Greek style

The passion for jewelry has always been characteristic of people, because it is one of those that delight vanity. However, in antiquity it was considered bad form to abuse luxury in everyday life. Then there were even laws requiring compliance with the measure. That is why Greek jewelry is distinguished by magnificent restraint. But the opportunity to decorate yourself to a greater extent, no doubt, was.

These were special solemn appearances, various holidays, a wedding, a visit to the theater. And despite this, elegance and naturalness have always been present in the Greek style. The silhouettes of ancient Greek women resembled the columns of architectural structures of that time or an antique statue, and therefore the set of jewelry accompanying such attire was quite limited.

Greek style hair ornaments

Greek style hair ornaments

The Greeks especially took care of the decoration of the head. The most natural and natural in the early period were wreaths of fresh flowers and leaves. They were made from roses, violets, myrtle and ivy. Ancient Greek women wore headbands in their hair.

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The most famous was the Greek sfendona, which was adorned with gold, pearls or precious stones. Its middle was wider and higher, on the head it stood out from the hair like a diadem and held the hair behind. Especially sfendona was convenient with a short haircut. Similar to the sfendone were the forehead and headpiece. Greek women decorated their hair with crowns and strings of pearls.

The Greek stefana was especially preferred, in the classic version - from gold threads. Artfully woven nets of gold thread or gold cord were attached to the hair with ivory hairpins. Luxurious stephans emphasized the high status of their owner. In addition to weaving from braids, women liked to collect their hair in a knot, which is still called the Greek knot to this day. Both long and short hair were curled and worn with a headband or ribbon. Tiaras and combs were often used.

The girls decorated their hairstyles with a golden hoop, often decorated with a meander or other ornamental decor with a clear rhythm. On special solemn occasions, hair was decorated with a diadem, which could be made of gold leaves and beads. Jewelers offered hairpins and nets, headbands and combs, with pearls and mother-of-pearl, as decoration for hair.

Greek style hair ornaments
Greek style hair ornaments

Greek style bracelets

Greek women loved bracelets very much, they tried to emphasize the grace of their hands with them, putting them on not only on the wrist, but also on the forearm. Bracelets were made in the form of a single wide hoop made of precious metal or several thin rings, which were worn in large quantities. Wide bracelets could be decorated with ornamental patterns, such as a meander, or twisted lines of a vegetative nature.

Greek style bracelets
Greek style bracelets

Neck decorations

Neck jewelry - necklaces, chains, beads, medallions. Carved vine leaves and wavy lines were used in neck decorations. The metal discs and plates included in the necklace were inlaid with garnets, amethysts, and covered with enamel. Very often, virtuoso carving created unique products with perforations in the form of wavy lines.

Neck ornaments were sometimes assembled from separate elements, soldered to each other, or mechanically connected. In jewelry technology, the diffuse soldering method was very common, with the help of which point grains were obtained. Necklaces and wreaths had a variety of pendants in the form of fruits, flowers, dolphins and other animals.

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Particular favor was shown by the fashion of that time for brooches. They were round, oval, and necessarily large, because their function was not only to adorn the lady, but also to fasten the folds of the fabric. If a Greek-style dress seems too simple, a beautiful large brooch will always help out. Cameos were set in gold frames.

The Greek women willingly decorated themselves with belts with embroidered ornaments or decorated with buckles. Even today, a belt and a bracelet with a meander, made by tatting weaving, can be a wonderful addition.

Gold necklace
Gold necklace

Greek style earrings

Greek earrings sometimes resembled images of the gods or were a disk with small patterns and inlays, from which thin pendants hung. When moving, these earrings rang beautifully. Images of various objects were gracefully applied on the disk, pendants repeated the shape of amphoras or animals.

Earrings to create an image in the Greek style, you need to choose large ones, drop-shaped shapes, including pearls, are also suitable. A one-shoulder dress in the Greek style will look stylish and unusual, if there is a large earring with a pendant on one ear as decoration.

Greek style earrings
Greek style earrings

Rings and rings

The Greeks also loved rings. They began to be worn from the beginning of the 6th century BC. Initially, these were signet rings, but later the rings were made from ordinary metals, at first without stones, but then they began to be decorated with precious metals and stones. It was considered quite fashionable to wear a ring on the fourth finger of the left hand.

People with high incomes and not possessing the norms of decency wore many rings at once. Gradually, the number of rings was added to all lovers of this jewelry. For rings and medallions, gems were made, in which the image on the stone was convex or hollowed out.

Ancient Greek jewelers often used filigree, their work was distinguished by subtlety and grace. The finer the work, the more expensive the jewelry. In jewelry, they used interspersed glass colored smalt or small pearls. This technique made it possible to create openwork patterns of extraordinary beauty. Necklaces were made of filigree threads, hair nets were woven.

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Ancient Greek masters applied engravings to stones. The best stones for engraving were sardonyx and cream agate. Some items of ancient Greek jewelry, decorated with filigree and dotted grain, are made in microtechnique. Details of fine and elegant work can only be seen through a magnifying glass.

In addition to floral and geometric patterns, the Greeks loved to carve butterflies, birds, insects on jewelry, there was also a fantastic animal world that came from myths and legends. Gold and silver were used as metal, but there were simpler decorations.

All about jewelry and bijouterie in the Greek style

Gold in ancient Greece was highly valued, as, indeed, in other countries and civilizations. Often, gold items were sent to the afterlife along with their owner, since, according to the magical effect, the ability to ward off evil spirits was attributed to gold. But among the ancient Greeks, not everyone adorned themselves. For example, the Spartans were distinguished by an ascetic and strict lifestyle. Basically, their jewelry was simple metal bracelets and brooches.

The color of jewelry in the Greek style should be calm and restrained, because the dresses in this style are mostly pastel palette. Therefore, pearls and transparent light stones are suitable for the Greek image. Rock crystal looks especially beautiful.

Ancient Greek jewelry can be seen in many museums around the world. The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg owns a particularly rich collection of necklaces and brooches.

In each new season, designers pay attention to Greek-style dresses, only adding freshness to the looks. When choosing jewelry or bijouterie in the Greek style, remember that the main thing in it is lightness, elegance and simplicity.









Greek jewelry


antique decoration
Greek jewelry
Greek jewelry
Greek jewelry