Zoe Cassavetes and Ileana Makri Launch a Great Jewellery Ode to Greek History

Cassavetes and Makri ended up introduced by a mutual friend through the pandemic and swiftly bonded more than their shared really like of jewellery and Greek heritage. “Ileana is the coolest girl I’ve ever fulfilled,” suggests Cassavetes. The two labored on the selection completely over Zoom, a conference of the minds that Cassavetes claims, “actually saved my mind all through lockdown.”

Makri, who has worked with talismans like the evil eye in the earlier, dug deep into Greek background to unearth victory symbols to use in the assortment. “I came throughout a series of banners lifted by quite a few leaders of the Greek Revolution, and I assumed they were being unquestionably breathtaking. They all experienced that further sense of freedom that led to naming this capsule selection Liberty,” states Makri. “Each piece is an ode to flexibility which, for me, is the finest price in lifetime. Without having it, there is no lifetime.”

The assortment is a background lesson wrapped in diamonds and gold. There is the Jesus Christ Victorious pendant, crafted out of 18k white gold and showcasing blue sapphires in a cross form. It symbolizes the flag elevated by Standard Dimitrios Plapoutas in the course of the rebellion of the city of Tripolitsa in 1818. Yet another lovely and simple fact-packed piece is a ring dependent on the Flag of Kastelorizo. Produced from 18k white gold and enamel, it features a heart created from rubies to symbolize love, and an anchor and cross produced of blue diamonds that sign hope and religion. The rings and pendants open like a locket, related to a poison ring—a design and style that holds anything beneath the bezel—a motif that Cassavetes and Makri chose to use during the assortment.

Cassavetes, who is 50 % Greek on her father’s side (her father was movie director John Cassavetes), took the undertaking as an chance to dig deeper into her background. “Of course, staying Greek, it is an homage to my roots,” she says. “It is exciting to me because as you get older, you are like, ‘What is my background yet again?’ A person advised you [about it] when you had been younger, then you dwell your lifetime, and sooner or later, you’re like, ‘Oh, I’d adore to master far more about where I arrived from and find out about these persons.’ Also, it is an remarkable civilization.”

Cassavetes types the pieces in a really modern way, throwing a pendant necklace in excess of a white T-shirt or putting on a ring with a common white button-down. And however her really like of all issues Greek is from her father, her obsession with jewelry hails from her mom, the actor Gena Rowlands. “I occur from an aged school mom and grandmother who donned a great deal of jewellery all the time. It appeared genuinely standard and extremely potent and stylish,” claims Cassavetes. “Life is too shorter, so allow me just place on all my jewelry and just put on it!”