Inspired goldsmith, Ilias Lalaounis, passes.

Ilias Lalaounis was born in Athens in 1920 and he was the fourth generation of goldsmiths and watchmakers from the region of Delphi. Although he originally trained in Economics and Law, Lalaounis quickly changed path and joined the family business, Zolotas, in 1940.

In 1942 while Greece was still in the midst of World War II, Lalaounis took the family firm and started studying ancient Greek art and antiquities. In the 1950's when Greece was recovering from the war, he decided to revive Greek museum artifacts and antiquities by transforming them into jewelry using modern technologies.

In 1957 Lalaounis founded the Greek Goldsmiths Association and played a major part in promoting the jewelry trade within Greece.
 In 1960 Lalaounis, after his uncle, Efthimios Zolotas, passed away he started his own company.

He mainly chose Gold as a primary material unlike other jewelers who used diamonds and other precious stones. Ancient artifacts sparked off his imagination and inspired thousands of jewellery designs.

His work was widely appreciated and his business kept expanding throughout Europe Asia and America.  Initially branches were opened on several Greek Islands and soon expanded through Europe in Paris, Zurich, Geneva, and London and in cities throughout the world such as New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

He was the first goldsmith to be honored by the Institute de France:  Academie de Beaux Arts des Letters for his contribution to the art of jewelry creation.

In 1993, Ilias Lalaounis and his daughters decided to create a Museum. The Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum is a unique museum devoted to the art of jewelry and the decorative arts. Today the Museum’s permanent collection includes over 4000 pieces of jewelry and micro sculptures from over 50 collections designed by the museum’s founder, Ilias Lalaounis, between 1940 and 2000. The permanent collection is enriched with donations including jewelry and decorative arts from around the world.