About
The Designer
Vally Kontidis was born in Athens, Greece in 1964. She created her first designs during her high school years, deciding to take up the craft then and there. She received her first lessons in jewelry from sculptress Janin Bayet and jeweler Nikos Nafpliotis.
Kontidis received her BA degree (First Class honours) in Jewelry Design from Middlesex University in London. Kontidis later stayed in the United States, completing a two-year program at Montgomery College of Art in Maryland in Silversmithing and Enameling alongside master Korean silversmith Comelia O. Kim. Kontidis has attended various seminars on a diverse range of jewelry techniques. These include kum boo and photoetching, glyptography with renowned Master gem engraver Mr. Nick Kielty Lambrinidis in Athens, spectacle frame design at the Arrowmont School of Arts in Tennessee, “bench tricks” with Alan Revere at the Revere Academy of Jewelry in San Francisco.
After establishing her workshop in Athens, Kontidis combined professional jewelry work with the teaching of the Jewelry Craft at the Athens Municipality Art Workshop and other guild institutions. Alongside other fellow designers, Kontidis founded the JAW (Jewelry Art Workers) art collective, which creates art jewelry concepts and organizes jewelry exhibitions throughout Greece with the aim of showcasing the diversity of jewelry design and craftmanship.
The Idea
"Greek heritage, color, and light are my starting point and my major source of inspiration. I try to bring Mediterranean shapes and forms into the present, in a contemporary aesthetic transformation. I aspire to create jewelry for the women of today, who find themselves taking on multiple roles in present-day society. Their stories, their strength, their resilience, and their empathy are my force and my inspiration.”
Vally Kontidis
The Jewelry
The jewelry pieces of Vally Kontidis are showcased at the Museum of Cycladic Art and other museum shops, the Stavros Niarhos Cultural Center, in select contemporary jewelry stores throughout Greece, and in her showroom in the heart of downtown Athens. She does commission work for individuals during special occasions. Kontidis is a member of Washington Guild of Goldsmiths (WGG), the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG), and founding member of JAW (Jewelry Art Workers). All jewelry is made according to regulations set by the Chamber of Industry (Stamp No. ΩΜ67) regarding handmade jewelry and alloy metals and bear a certificate of quality.
