Weight as ornament.
A 22K gold piece by Lalaounis, known for sculptural form and density.
Substantial, intentional, rare.
- Designer: Ilias Lalaounis
- Collection: Animal Kingdom
- Year: 1975
- 22k
- 37mm x 22mmx 17mm
- Fully Hallmarked, including maker's-marks
- Stud with Secure 18k Omega Back
Born in Athens in the 1920s, Ilias Lalaounis took over his family’s goldsmithing business during World War II before establishing his own atelier at the foot of the Acropolis in the 1960s. Deeply influenced by ancient artifacts, he spent his life studying and reinterpreting forms from Greek, Minoan, and Byzantine history, later expanding into Persian, Chinese, and other global traditions.
The Animal Kingdom collection reflects this approach directly—drawing from creatures found in Hellenistic and Classical Greek art, where animals symbolized power, guardianship, and mythology. Building on earlier works first exhibited at the Thessaloniki International Fair, these forms were not decorative but referential, echoing ancient adornments and ceremonial objects. In this piece, the scale, volume, and sculptural presence mirror that lineage, treating the figure as both symbol and structure.
Rejecting diamonds in favor of high-karat gold, which he called “the most human material,” Lalaounis focused on weight, texture, and presence. Using techniques like granulation, filigree, and hand-hammering, his pieces feel closer to artifacts than ornament. Objects that carry history, symbolism, and a sense of permanence.
