I'm excited to introduce to you a co-collaborator and now friend of mine, Marina Kacic-Bartulovic who is the founder and owner of Illyrian Gems. We have just started to stock Marina's beautiful earrings in our new heavenly gift box so I thought it would be great to hear a little more from her in a guest blog post.
Hello everyone and thank you Katie for inviting me to write a guest post, I feel so honored. My name is Marina and I’m the person behind my brand Illyrian Gems which I created to showcase the beautiful traditional jewelry coming from the heart of the Mediterranean.
All of the earring designs from our Heritage Collection at Illyrian Gems have a rich and long history. They originated in the beautiful country of Croatia, and are finally becoming more recognised and proudly worn by many women around the world. Some of the designs are dating back to the 1st century BC when they were adorning military uniforms and showing rank and power.
Most of the designs are really intricate and made in the filigree technique and some can take days to complete. Often paired with pearl or coral beads, which add a layer of elegance to them.
I’m currently working on a second collection which still remains nameless. I am offering a gift to anyone who comes up with a winning title so please leave a comment below. This collection will be a somewhat more contemporary take on various details found on the coast of the Adriatic, like lace quilling (protected by UNESCO), architectural motifs and museum artifacts. You can find all my designs at www.illyriangems.com
My Mikelle earrings featured in the new heavenly gift box represent angel wings. Angels play a very important role as patron saints of small towns and are also patron saints of firefighters, police and children which are celebrated throughout the year in Croatia.
We loved collaborating on this gift box and hope you will enjoy it as much as we do. It’s a perfect gift for that someone special, be it their birthday, anniversary, or just to show them how much you love and appreciate them. You can find all the details for the heavenly gift box here.
Signing off with one last picture to share of the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage site in Dubrovnik - just stunning.
