Ilias Lalaounis (Greek, 1920–2013), Necklace, 1970s, gold, rock crystal

Audio Description

Ilias Lalaounis, a Greek jeweler, designed this necklace in the 1970s. He lived from 1920–2013.

This necklace is a smooth polished gold shape that resembles a male sperm. The necklace wraps around the neck, growing larger at the center front where it holds a drop of clear rock crystal.

Label Copy

Ilias Lalaounis, a Greek jeweler, designed this necklace in the 1970s. He lived from 1920–2013.

Influenced first by ancient civilizations such as Byzantium, Persia, and Scythia, Ilias Lalaounis was also known for his fascination with science. The intricacies of the human body as seen under a microscope inspired the artisan to create some of the most avant-garde jewelry of the period. This classic necklace is timeless in design and could be worn today. Taking the shape of what appears to be a single male sperm cell, its form and size were radical even in the 1970s as free love and The Pill became part of polite society.

Lalaounis’s 1972 collection called Biosymbols replicated human cellular structures, and his Neogeometric line the following year was designed using computer graphic programs that were state-of-the-art at the time. The Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum opened to the public in 1994 in Athens, Greece and is an international center for jewelry and the decorative arts.

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