Byzantine Jewelry

Byzantine jewelry is a corner-stone period in the art history of jewelry, yet little is known about it in the modern world and it is comparatively undiscovered my art historians. The Greek jewelry shop collection of Byzantine crosses and Byzantium jewelry in general is extremely rare and one of the only surviving collections of its kind. The survival of this incredible collection of Byzantine jewels is due to the heritage of the founders - the Vaphiadis family who originated from Byzantium (Asia-Minor) and fled to Greece in the 1920's for safety from the Turkish ethnic cleansing of Greeks. The art of Byzantium was abundantly handed down to us and even though this type of jewelry is very particular and has an untrained audience, it is usually appreciated by avid jewelry lovers for its unique un-compromising detail and disciplined character.

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Byzantine Jewelry There are 104 products.

Subcategories

Byzantine Crosses

Although Byzantium was originally founded as a Greek colony in 667 BC and named after the Greek King ‘Bizas’, the Byzantine Empire is the term used to describe the East Roman Empire (or Nova Roma) of which the capital was named Constantinople in 330 AD after Constantine the Great. From this point on until the capturing of Constantinople in 1453 by the Ottomans, the synthesis of classical Greek, Roman and Christianized Roman culture created unrivaled achievements in art, architecture and magnificent jewelry.

Byzantine Crosses were later borrowed by other cultures. From the time of the crusades, shortly after Byzantium, many cross designs were adopted emblematically by the knights templar. The classification of the most usual type of crosses used by the Knights templar and as other fraternal and masonic symbols is the 'cross patée'. (A cross which has narrow arms towards the center, that broader outwards towards the edges).

Our range offers a wide selection of Byzantine Crosses, Baptism Crosses and jewelry of the Greek Orthodox faith which tell their own story of heritage and traditional craftsmanship in typical Byzantium Rhythm. This category will frequently be enriched with new designs.
Byzantine art jewelry

Byzantine society was largely theocratic, however it's rich culture in jewelry making makes the period not only characteristic for the frequent depictions of crosses but also for the artistic rhythms and techniques in themselves (such as granulated jewelry) which required immense skill and discipline.

Other noteworthy iconic themes are the monogram - (an early form of logo - to depict an institution, a motto or a notable member of society), the sensational double headed eagles and also wild and vivid geometric and naturalistic carvings and intricately ornate depictions.

The Byzantines were masters at carving and engraving metals with incredible detail and skill - possibly with far higher skill than best engravers today. Our collection of Byzantine jewelry is extremely rare because there are very few artisans remaining today in the world who are familiar with this epoch and jewelry culture. The Vaphiadis Jewelry business was founded by jewelry artisans who lived in Asia-Minor (modern day Turkey - previously Byzantium) and who fled to Greece in the 1920's. Trained in this art, they had this artistic rhythm passed down to them.

The collection composes numerous superb artifact reproductions of items found in the Byzantine museum in Thessaloniki.