Lydia Valant

The beginning

Jewelry and history have been my passion since childhood. At the age of about 13 I made my first metal jewelry piece; in my early twenties I earned my first money selling them at medieval fairs. Though I started with LARP and fantasy jewelry, as the years went on I became more interested in historical styles.

Now, my focus is on reenactment and the recreation of historical jewelry and accessories. I"m still working at medieval fairs and museum events – you can see the dates here. For booking me and my booth or ordering pieces for a museum shop, please just contact me.

Education

Inspiration & craft

I get inspired by archaeological finds or historical paintings from all over Europe and beyond, and think that a lot of jewelry from former times could be incorporated into modern fashion. Some styles were even en vogue for centuries, and you wouldn't recognize the design as “old”. My creations are direct copies of or highly inspired by historical examples, but also modern interpretations of historical pieces.

Materials

The materials I use are silver, (real) bronze and 14K–24K gilded brass, as well as “costume jewelry” findings, freshwater pearls, gemstones and glass beads. Some pieces and materials are vintage and re-used in my designs, so a lot of my jewelry is unique and cannot be reproduced.