Ilias Lalaounis was born in Athens in 1920, the third generation of a family of goldsmiths and watchmakers from Delphi. After studying economics and law at the University of Athens, he decided to join his uncle’s jewelry firm, where, apprenticed as a goldsmith, he learned the skills that were to determine his future as a master craftsman. In 1941, while Greece was in the grip of WWII, Ilias Lalaounis took over the family firm. Prompted by a passion for history, he began studying the art of his ancestors. In the 1950’s, while Greece was recovering from the war years, Lalaounis’ vision became clear: he decided to breathe new life into Greek museum artifacts and transform them into jewelry by reviving age old techniques while also introducing the use of modern technology.

“His craft would not only be about producing an object of beauty; he would also seek to convey the spiritual and symbolic link of an object to its historical past.”

To perfect his art, Ilias Lalaounis needed not only to grasp the idea behind those ancient creations, but also to school his fellow craftsmen in the art of neglected/forgotten techniques, such as granulation, filigree, hand-weaving and hand-hammering. Lalaounis founded the Greek Jeweler’s Association and exhibited his first collection in 1957, the ‘archeological collection,’ inspired by Classical, Hellenistic and Minoan – Mycenaean art. With modern jewels steeped in antiquity, this was anachronism at its most refined and the world took note. In the 1960’s, after his uncle passed away, Ilias Lalaounis decided to branch out on his own. He started his own company with its headquarters on Karyatidon street, at the foot of the Acropolis.

Since 1998 the mantle of Ilias Lalaounis’s inexhaustible creativity has been passed on to his four daughters, Aikaterini, Demetra, Maria and Ioanna, who are taking the iconic brand to new heights of excellence and design. They continue passionately a long family tradition and ensure that the LALAoUNIS legacy will be passed on to the next generation. Aikaterini Lalaouni is co-CEO Greece. Together with her daughter Laoura, who oversees the company’s Social Media, they are responsible for PR for the Greek market. Demetra Lalaouni Auersperg-Breunner is the company’s Intl CEO. Maria Lalaouni Boutari is co-CEO Greece and the company’s Creative Director. Ioanna Lalaouni is the Director of the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum, a non profit organisation founded in 1993 and devoted to the art of jewelry and decorative arts.