Middle Orient - Balkan diversity

Ethnic and oriental jewelry fascinates us with its uniqueness, delights us with its otherness, exotic design, becomes a kind of substitute for unknown, beautiful worlds that may not be fully understood by us, but certainly inspire us.... Undiscovered cultures, the inner thirst for travel that lies dormant in each of us - beautiful jewelry and outfits can light up our everyday life, add a pinch of sweet taste of the mysterious Orient....

However, we do not have to go far to feel the oriental atmosphere. The Balkan Peninsula, with its complex history and complicated ethnicity, presents us with a unique orient, because it is quite close - mixed with Slavic, Mediterranean, domesticated. The Balkans, after all, is a border zone of occidental and oriental culture - it is here that routes have always crossed, peoples, languages and cultures have mixed with an intensity unparalleled elsewhere in Europe - thus creating a creation that is fascinating and incredibly difficult to define.

Traditional jewelry of the Balkan region is characterized by an abundance of forms and the use of multicolored elements - from white to juicy red tones, gold and silver. Everything is designed to give the impression of richness. Also, the materials are very diverse - from natural and artificial flowers through various types of sparkles, glass beads, beads and feathers. In addition, filigree products are very characteristic here - especially in the area of today's Albania and Kosovo - beautiful earrings, brooches, rings and necklaces made by hand, using traditional methods - labor-intensive openwork designs still delight and attract the eye.

In the Balkans, jewelry made of metals, decorated with precious or semi-precious stones, was also highly valued. Let's remember that jewelry was not only an ornament, but also testified to social status, was often intended to protect the owner from evil forces, and could also be a reward for merit (this function was primarily performed by men's jewelry).

It is enough to go a little to the south, cross the Danube, to slowly observe the change of reality and experience a fascinating combination of the influence of Mediterranean, Old Slavic and Eastern cultures - in traditional Balkan ornamentation, geometric stylizations of plant forms prevail, although anthropomorphic figures are also encountered (most often in traditional jewelry, which was used to decorate the heads of ladies and married women). In Dalmatia, on the other hand, filigree brooches and clothes pins are characteristic, while in the area primarily of western Bosnia (though also in Macedonia and Bulgaria), voluminous jewelry appears, which more often than not resembles an unheard of apron, consisting mainly of a large number of small and larger coins, buzzing with the owner's every move. In the east of the peninsula, richly decorated hair clips and ornate round or semicircular earrings are characteristic. Embossed buckles and clasps are a part of traditional dress in Macedonia, though of course you'll come across them in other areas of the region as well - all thanks to the mobility of the old merchants who sold traditional wares traveling the length and breadth of the peninsula.

The jewelry discussed above is incredibly inspiring - a certain style and character has been preserved here (which, however, is by no means homogeneous!), and the further south you go, the more pronounced the Middle Eastern influence becomes - the motifs, ornaments, distinctive decorations, as well as the type of jewelry and elements of dress - well - several centuries of Ottoman Empire rule on the Balkan Peninsula have done their part. The beautiful mosaic of traditional elements of Slavic folklore interwoven with elements of the Oriental world is evident in all links of the culture - we can also appreciate it in the unique jewelry.