Feature Friday: Orniello
Nothing completes an outfit quite like the perfect piece of jewelry, and for this month’s feature, creating that perfect jewel is both her daily work and her passion!
Orniello is a historical jewelry company that reproduces everything from the 5th century B.C. to the 1840s (with the occasional foray into Art Nouveau), and Lydia Valant, the artist behind it all, has been creating and refining her craft for most of her life.
“I have been making jewelry since I was 14 years old,” she shared, “and I think, I was always creating things with my hands.”
“I need crafting as my daily bread,” Lydia added. “I love to make people happy with my little pieces. I also love the challenges, when a customer comes over with an idea to be realized, or I see something in a museum or a painting, where I think ‘that's beautiful, I want it!’, and then need to find a way to make it.”
But for Lydia, it’s not solely about creative expression. Historical context plays a big role too. “I also love to teach a bit of history through my works,” she explained, “because none of my jewelry pieces are standing alone. They bring an agenda of fashion history to trade, politics, and craft evolution, and everybody has a connection to jewelry in general."
"I can't work either purely with my hands or with my brain," she added, "and this job is the connection between both, the academic and the handicraft.”
Lydia’s love of historical jewelry specifically came to her later, when she was studying archeology. “As an archaeology student, I began with LARP, and I had no money, so I began crafting and sewing for other LARPers to finance my hobby,” she shared. “I also went to medieval markets to sell my jewelry because I always was fond of history and reenactment and wanted to be a part of it. But I was making fantasy jewelry still.”
That early exposure led to a demand from clients for a new style of work. “I opened my first online shop about 10 years ago, and people came asking me if I could make them this or that historical piece,” Lydia recalled. “At the same time, I completed my archaeology study and learned to research properly, and the internet evolved and opened a whole new gallery of ideas that was unavailable before. More and more reenactors and costumers came with historical wishes, so about 6 years ago, I changed completely from fantasy to historical jewelry.”
But Lydia wasn’t satisfied yet, and she used that drive to create more complex and exciting pieces, and eventually, to expand her business significantly. “My personal interests changed more and more,” she explained. “I still only worked with findings and beads, where the possibilities were very limited. But I noticed that though there were some jewelry reproduction companies already available, all of them had their focus on cast metal items, and mostly ‘manly’ things or clothing accessories, but the sources offer so much more! In 2019, I was so unhappy with my job situation that I finally decided to quit and went to jewelry school where I learned to work with metals and gemstones and all the goldsmithing. It seemed the reenactment/costuming crowd was just waiting for this! Since 2021, the business has grown bigger and bigger and I have the best job in the world now.”
Still, Lydia continues to push herself in her creative work, even when it presents an intimidating challenge! When asked about some of her most exciting work, she replied, “First, a ring made of 14K gold for my father. He wanted an intricate design, it was the first time I've worked with gold, and I was sweating blood because of its price. I didn't dare to make it for two years!”
She continued, adding, “Another one was a ring for a dear friend I made a year ago. It was the first time I worked with diamonds, and I had to come up with a creative solution because they were so tiny and I couldn't make the standard settings. It turned out splendidly and it's still one of my all-time favorites!”
Like those, her best-loved projects often give her a bit of a challenge. “Most times, my favorite things change with where I put my focus on or stumble upon a research rabbit hole,” she explained. “A hot topic is always Roman jewelry. I love the design language and that you can wear so much of it anytime with modern fashion. Other personal favorites are Byzantine necklaces and earrings because of their exotic style, which are big but at the same time have delicate filigree.”
“In general, I love to create things that are a perfect mixture of brain and hand work, where you need to face a little challenge,” she shared.
You can find more of Lydia’s work on her website, orniello.com, and in her Etsy shop, www.etsy.com/shop/orniello, and you can follow her on Instagram (@orniello_by_celefindel) and Facebook for more inspiration!