DISCOVER VALLY KONTIDIS

The designer

"Vally Kontidis was born in Athens in 1964. She created her first designs during her school years, and it was then that she decided to take up art. She got her first lessons in jewellery next to the sculptress Janin Baet and the jeweller Nikos Nafpliotis.

She graduated from Middlesex University in London and received a BA (Honours) degree (First Class) in Jewellery. Later, she took glyptography lessons in Athens and from 1998-2000 she went to Montgomery College of Art in Maryland, USA, where she got a diploma in Silversmithing and enamelling. Following that, she attended many seminars on various jewellery techniques like Kumboo and photoetching with well-known USA artists. Among them was also handmade spectacle frame design and construction in the Arrowmont School of Arts in Tennessee.

After establishing her first workshop in Athens in 1989, Vally decided to combine her professional creative work with teaching and demonstrating jewellery making techniques at the Athens Municipality Workshop. Throughout the 1990s she designed jewellery for several companies. In recent years Vally Kontidis has based her jewellery distribution on a wholesale basis having sold in more than 50 stores, mainly in Greece and across Central Europe."

 

A word from the artist

“Ancient Greek heritage is always a starting point for me, a major source of inspiration. I believe that one should always have in mind his roots and the Greek past is so rich in stimuli that can inspire you. Thus, ancient Greek vessels, pots and vases are translated from findings into jewellery.  I try to bring ancient forms and shapes into the present, into a new aesthetic that has a unique way to carry the heritage of the past.

I aspire to create jewellery for the women of today, for the women who seem to have so many different roles within one single day. I play with “typically” male shapes and transform them into feminine adornments. Somehow the dynamism, strength and confidence that these women radiate become the inspiration itself.”

 

The jewellery

"As well as being a part of our collection, the work of Vally Kontidis can be found in several Museum Shops such as: The Acropolis Museum, Benaki Museum, Museum of Cycladic Art, Megaro Mousikis, Hellenic World and Macedonian Museum of Modern Art and in selected contemporary jewellery stores in Europe.

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Vally Kontidis is a member of Washington Guild of Goldsmiths (WGG), the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG), and founding member of JAW (Jewellery Art Workers)

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All jewellery is made according to the regulations set by the Chamber of Industry (Stamp No ΩΜ67) regarding handmade jewellery and alloy metals, and bear a certificate of quality."