These Egg Charms Are the Perfect Easter Jewelry
My friend Tina Daskalontanaki was the one who first told me about the eggs. We were touring some of the best shops in Athens for a story I was working on when I noticed her necklace of gold links heavy with brightly colored enamel egg charms. “It’s a tradition here,” she told me. “Ladies bring their egg charms out every year around Easter.” That day I went into the Lalaounis store across from the Hotel Grande Bretagne and bought myself two.
And every Easter since, I have bought each of my nieces an Ilias Lalaounis egg pendant.( I have never been the kind of aunt who brings a basket full of Peeps.) A new style is introduced each year. The inspiration is the Greek tradition of dyeing eggs in every home on Holy Thursday before Easter Sunday, as well as a more universal symbolism of eggs as creation and the beginning of a new cycle of life.
This year’s pendant is inspired by Hellenic folk art and national costumes from the North of Greece, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. There are three 2019 eggs: one in carnelian with a citrine stone at the center, one in new jade (it’s a pistachio colored stone) with citrine, and one in new jade with peridot. Past styles -including a rock crystal one I love-are also available.
Other Greek jewelers also create their own egg pendants. Zeus + Dione introduced a series of colorful woven pendants that match perfectly with their Grecian-inspired ready-to-wear collection and evil-eye basket bags.
Liana Vourakis- a legendary Athenian grande dame whose shop in the Kolonaki neighborhood is the place all chic Athenian brides register for weddings and christenings (she also carries Van Cleef)-is also known for her eggs which come in a variety of sizes and in a wider palette of colors: turquoise with gold embellishments, lapis, pink opal. She sells them on gold chains or leather cords or even hanging off a safety pin-shaped gold and diamond brooch.
I have one all gold Liana Vourakis egg pendant with an intricate openwork pattern that I have already taken out to wear for the season, on a long chain with my two original Lalaounis eggs. Greek Easter is not until April 28 this year. I give you permission to extend your egg charm wearing until then.
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