Athens’ finest: jewellery studio Vasiliki sculpts conceptual pieces by hand

Artisanal representations of metaphysical ideas, the objects of desire coming out of Kiki Karayiannis’ jewellery atelier, Vasiliki, shine bright with this committed young designer’s individuality and innate flair. Some are bold, others subtle, but all Karayiannis’ designs convey the quality of originality that has made her one of the jewellery world’s most exciting names to watch.

For inspiration the designer turns to Ancient Greek, Japanese and Norse mythologies, plus postmodern novelists Borges and Ballard, before hand-molding offbeat forms that represent their stories and symbols in her own abstracted way. Whether earrings, necklaces, bracelets or rings, her creations tend to be fluid, bearing an artisanal charm that stands out in a machine-led world. Sometimes gnarly, always organic, each of her miniature sculptures feels precious to wear because of the passion and care put into its making.

Despite having killer looks, Karayiannis has been relatively camera shy until now, largely evading portraits and modelling requests from her creative scene friends for years. For our shoot with photographer Marco Arguello at her space beside Philopappou Hill in Koukaki – the neighbourhood between the Acropolis and contemporary art museum EMST – she’s paired a hotel pyjama shirt from her recent trip to Japan with a heavy kilt and ballet pumps, accessorised of course with a few of her own accents.

Proteus, Orlando, Ursula, Gilgamesh – this motley crew of charismatic personae inhabit the Vasiliki world, lending their assorted associations to be solidified at Karayiannis’ craft-worn fingertips. The designer says she enlists these archetypes 'as consoling protections against the violence of the here and now,' tapping into a fortifying psychic pool in which eternal associations reside. Each kink, gloop, (de)formation is a micro-tribute to randomness and digression, in contrast to the blandness of uniformity she feels has taken over.

Besides its founder’s vivid imagination, the treasure in Vasiliki’s toolbox is craftsman Spiros Amanatidis, now aged 73. He ran his own Classical and Byzantine revivalist jewellery company for years with his brother, and today makes pieces for the admired Lalaounis house. Karayiannis’ designs emerge from their close collaboration and hours of detailed conversations. 'We’ve had a strong emotional connection since we first met, and he’s one of the only craftsmen I know willing to create everything by hand.'

Amanatidis handmakes each Vasiliki chain, some requiring over 100 hand-turned links, which is a rarity these days and gives the label its organic style. Greece has a rich historical jewellery culture and Karayiannis learned her techniques by studying with local craftsmen, which is how she found Amanatidis. Spending long hours at their work tables, she not only learned about mould making and stone setting, she also picked up Greek.

Karayiannis is committed to sourcing ethical materials wherever possible, which is easier with metals than it is with stones (sapphires, emeralds, tourmalines, lemon quartz) but she persists, working with a network of dealers she met at London’s ethical gemstone fairs. Sometimes she repurposes antique diamonds from heirloom pieces she finds at auction, inherited by clients, or from her craftsman’s stash. She works exclusively with precious solid metals – recycled sterling silver and Fairtrade-certified gold. Over the years the designer has donated various pieces to raise funds for regional causes. Her mother had to leave Cyprus abruptly at nine years old after the 1974 Turkish invasion, and Karayiannis is sensitive to the conditions around the Eastern Mediterranean she’s chosen to make her home.

Bespoke one-of-a-kind commissions are where the dynamic designer’s talents come into their own as she imagines unique sculptures to suit an individual’s character, style and needs. In 2020 for example, she crafted a bouquet of protective amulet pendants for a painter friend to wear on a chain, re-envisaging the age-old icons of the cross and evil eye in her charming gloopy hand. More recently she’s come up with spherical solid gold vessels, gemstone-studded chains, irregular gold cufflinks, and molten splashes of kintsugi to rehabilitate a broken pearl.

There have inevitably been more than a few engagement rings too, for which she’s tested her capacity to transform something standardised into something unusual, creating a diamond encrusted organic band for a gallerist, a rich molten version of a solitaire with cabochon emeralds for an artist, and an ancient-looking eternity ring with princess-cut rubies for an architect.

As of this winter you can find Vasiliki at Dover Street Market London – Ssense is already a longtime online stockist of hers, besides small boutiques like Sekt & Sekt in Basel and Bureau in Taipei. When in 2022 she was commissioned by fashion brand Nanushka to design a silver collection for them, she came up with bulbous bracelets and fibrous ear cuffs. Last year, for chic new perfume boutique Phaon, she created delicate pinched gold candlesticks each on three twiggy legs, which she’s since made available to purchase upon request.

At a warehouse in Piraeus port district (previously used for plates designed to be broken at Greek weddings…) she collaborated with curator Alix Janta on an exhibition with fourteen artists from across Europe to install a series of object dialogues riffing on ideas of fantasy and metamorphosis. Faye Wei Wei made ceramics, Zoe Paul sculpted marble, and Matilde Cerruti Quara performed a poem, each adorned in Vasiliki. Karayiannis got a First in Fine Art and History of Art at London’s aptly titled Goldsmiths before coming to Athens on a trip in 2019 and deciding to stay. Besides being quite the aesthete, she’s a complex, detailed, ideas-led person, which lends her jewellery its variety and depth.

How does the designer feel about the way the Greek capital has changed in the years since she arrived? 'It used to feel like my hideout, like some kind of dreamworld bubble of ancient and urban ruins where I could work on my designs. Now it’s much more social, more collaborative, there’s so much happening.'

One of the things that’s very much happening is Vasiliki. The studio launch was heaving like a house party and private commissions keep coming in for clients ranging from the household names of fashion celebrity to grandes dames of arts patronage. So what does the future hold for this shapeshifting designer? 'I want to expand the Vasiliki universe, I like bringing its sensibilities into everyday life. We now have butter knives, ashtrays and hors d’oeuvres spoons – it might be time to start filling the room!'

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