About
Dear visitor,
In this "about" section I will allow myself to tell you a little bit about me. My name is Alexandre Kiriakides. You may have guessed from my name, I have Greek origins. It's a detail, but it probably have some importance. As a child I spent many of my summers in this land of myths and old stones. This contributed, I believe, to instilling in me a passion for History that has never left.
Quite naturally, as I grew up, I wanted to make my job out of it, to become an archaeologist, a professor or an historian. However, after my graduation, it seemed to me that the academic career was ultimately not made for me. There followed many trips on the roads of the Middle East and Asia during which I developed my taste for jewelry. What fascinating objects indeed are those with which we adorn ourselves: they are fragments of culture and the fruit of craft traditions that sometimes goes centuries back.
However, the more I became interested in the arts of metal, the more I became conscious of the threats hanging over these know-how, in competition with productions that required less time and knowledge. During a trip I took to India, as I was trying to get a better understanding of certain traditional techniques, I was recommended to interview a jeweler, reputed to be the most talented around. He generously answered my questions, showed me his tools, and gave me advice. Nevertheless, he also explained to me his wish to adopt a less artisanal production in order to produce more and faster. How could we blame him? Unfortunately, old-fashioned crafting is not always a viable choice.
When, back to hometown of Aix-en-Provence, I decided to create my own studio, I decided to devote myself solely to manual techniques. Often inspired by archaeological artefacts, the jewels that I make there are the meeting point between my passion for History and jewelry. They are the fruit of know-how elaborated by generations of craftsmen around the world and of researches surrounding techniques that are sometimes disappearing. They are, in short, my humble contribution to the perpetuation of precious intangible heritage.
Thus, dear visitor, Thalisman is not just an online store, it is above all a project destined to enrich itself through new journeys and new experiments. Its vocation is to claim that the future lies much more in renewing what we have inherited from our predecessors, than in a quest for ever more.
Quite naturally, as I grew up, I wanted to make my job out of it, to become an archaeologist, a professor or an historian. However, after my graduation, it seemed to me that the academic career was ultimately not made for me. There followed many trips on the roads of the Middle East and Asia during which I developed my taste for jewelry. What fascinating objects indeed are those with which we adorn ourselves: they are fragments of culture and the fruit of craft traditions that sometimes goes centuries back.
However, the more I became interested in the arts of metal, the more I became conscious of the threats hanging over these know-how, in competition with productions that required less time and knowledge. During a trip I took to India, as I was trying to get a better understanding of certain traditional techniques, I was recommended to interview a jeweler, reputed to be the most talented around. He generously answered my questions, showed me his tools, and gave me advice. Nevertheless, he also explained to me his wish to adopt a less artisanal production in order to produce more and faster. How could we blame him? Unfortunately, old-fashioned crafting is not always a viable choice.
When, back to hometown of Aix-en-Provence, I decided to create my own studio, I decided to devote myself solely to manual techniques. Often inspired by archaeological artefacts, the jewels that I make there are the meeting point between my passion for History and jewelry. They are the fruit of know-how elaborated by generations of craftsmen around the world and of researches surrounding techniques that are sometimes disappearing. They are, in short, my humble contribution to the perpetuation of precious intangible heritage.
Thus, dear visitor, Thalisman is not just an online store, it is above all a project destined to enrich itself through new journeys and new experiments. Its vocation is to claim that the future lies much more in renewing what we have inherited from our predecessors, than in a quest for ever more.
A.K.