THE CONTEMPORARY REVIVAL OF
NEO-HELLENIC JEWELLERY

AENÁLIA is the first Greek brand that focuses on the contemporary revival of neo-Hellenic jewellery. It was founded in 2019, in Athens, Greece, by art historian Katerina Kritikou, whose love for the neo-Hellenic tradition drove her to envisage the redefinition of neo-Hellenic jewellery as part of present-day elegance.

AENÁLIA will take you on an imaginary journey throughout the birthplaces of its collections. An unusual tour around Greece begins, aiming to breathe new life into a lesser-known part of the Greek jewellery history and set it free from its folkloric bonds.

Neo-Hellenic jewellery spans across a broad range of time (17th-late 19th century), space (mainland and the islands) and styles. It combined elements from the European West and the Islamic East, and formed an integral part of Greek traditional costumes.

Historical research is of great importance for the creation of the collections. Inspired by the rich heritage of silversmithing tradition during post-Byzantine period, as well as the remarkable variety of its creations, each AENÁLIA piece is rooted in its cultural context, meticulously designed and handmade with the greatest respect for traditional techniques.

Uniqueness and timelessness are at the core of AENÁLIA’s identity, regarding the customer as the carrier of a particular story.

Wearing an AENÁLIA piece means keeping the panorama of the Greek aesthetic alive.

Katerina Kritikou, Founder — Portrait by Yannis Bournias

In Katerina’s words

I believe in adaptability and continuity as a way of surviving in real life as well as in art.

I first dreamt of reviving the neo-Hellenic jewel more than a decade ago whilst strolling through the streets of Paris, where I was studying Art History at Sorbonne University. I used to wear my original neo-Hellenic jewellery pieces, which were gifted to me from my grandmother, and people from all over the world were asking me where they came from.

From the very beginning, it was clear to me that I wasn’t as interested in Ancient Greece and the much talked-about Grecian style. My grandmother was a member of the local department of the Lyceum Club of Greek Women and so I was surrounded by the neo-Hellenic tradition since my childhood. I learned to appreciate traditional costumes and I literally fell in love with the jewellery pieces that accompanied them. Their beauty isn’t just striking in my eyes, it has a story to tell and I am very proud that it’s a Greek one.

My initial urge to dive into Greek history quickly transformed into a deep desire to tell the world what neo-Hellenic jewellery is and rescue it from oblivion.

After several years of research, I set up AENÁLIA to give women the opportunity to strongly connect with the neo-Hellenic tradition and eventually become a part of its contemporary version.