Nautical Dominion Necklace: Heroism, Exploration, Trade - Part 1/2
This blog post is dedicated to the Nautical Dominion Necklace. This necklace is one of my favorites from a signature class of designs of mine that I call the 'antique hippie necklaces'. This colorful necklace features several museum quality reproduction Greek & Roman Coins. It also has Sterling silver ancient symbols sacred to the inhabitants the Cyclades Islands and Aegean Coast. And of course many gemstone beads and sea glass. Colorful, bold and rich it is a gorgeous statement necklace.
As you may know on the Eastern part of Mediterranean the Aegean sea stretches from Greece to Asia Minor. And Cyclades islands are on this sea. This handmade necklace has a vivid blue and green color palette with sparkles of gold and silver. I find this combination of colors extremely delightful since it symbolizes the colors of the Aegean sea. This necklace is dedicated to brave souls of the antiquity who were fueled by heroism and adventure and went on expeditions to establish trade colonies. Let's checkout the photos of the necklace then talk more about it.
The Nautical Dominion necklace combines elements of ancient and modern. It is boho-chic redefined in a really distinctive way. It is surprisingly unique and stylish and it will flatter your everyday style or when you dress up for a special occasion. The photo below is from our Marina Del Rey photo shoot. Here you can see how nicely this necklace and some more of my jewelry work together with a casual-chic outfit. Something most of you may enjoy wearing on any given day.
The graceful Nautical Dominion necklace has five museum quality gold-plated brass reproduction coins native to the Aegean. These coins are reproduces from quality originals using lost wax casting. Then each one is cleaned up, prepared for gold-plating and hand set in Sterling silver before they became a part of the necklace.
The centerpiece of the necklace is a Greek coin showing Goddess Artemis who was the Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls. Another coin from the biblical city of Ephesus shows Emperor Claudius with his wife Agrippina. The honeybee coin from Ephesus is quite well known among collectors. On its reverse side a stag is depicted which symbolizes Artemis' affinity with animals. A Persian warrior from the times of King Mausolus the Satrap of Caria stands tall with all his might framed within the oblong coin. The coin that shows the dashing young man has created some controversy. One group of thought says that this is the Greek hero Hercules wearing the Nemean Lion skin. Whereas others, including myself, believe that this coin depicts Alexander the Great as a Hercules look alike.
Ancient symbols of power and Greek culture are placed between the shimmering coins. I have handmade them out of Sterling silver using wax modeling technique. A Corinthian column base, an acorn, a bird, and an abstract woman's face from Cyclades Islands of the Aegean Sea are included to further compliment the unique design. As usual everything including the clasp is handmade by me. And just in case you are curious to what inspired me to create the abstract woman's face below is a glorious photo of a Cyclades woman statute, which is dated somewhere between 2600-2400 B.C. (on display at New York Metropolitan Museum).
Generous use of genuine sea glass, rose quartz, blue & red agates, jade, lapis lazuli, unakite gemstone beads grant this alluring necklace its amazing color palette. In particular I enjoyed using unakite gemstones in this design because they add some much color and texture that help blend all the unique elements this rich necklace. I really enjoy mixing the types, shapes and textures of completely different kind of beads together to create a unique and surprisingly harmonious designs. This necklace definitely showcases my taste.
This ends part 1 of my blog on the Nautical Dominion Necklace. Next time I will talk more about the inspiration behind the design and discuss the importance of trade in the ancient world. Until next time.
