The Classical Revival: Intaglios, Ancient Coins and Why Myth Is Back
Carved profiles, ancient coins and old gods are back. What an intaglio is, who the faces belong to, and how to wear one without costume.
4 min read
Something shifted this summer. Carved profiles, coin pendants and the faces of old gods started turning up everywhere, from red carpets to high-street windows, and they haven't gone away with the season.
The timing isn't a mystery. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey opened in July and became one of the biggest films of the year, and its press tour put Grecian draping on every red carpet for weeks. Jewellery followed. Ancient-inspired pieces — especially carved stone intaglios and coin pendants — are being named among the defining looks of the autumn.
This is ground we've been standing on for a while. Here's what the pieces actually are, who the faces belong to, and how to wear one so it looks like a choice rather than a costume.
What is an intaglio?
An intaglio is a design carved into a stone rather than raised from it. The opposite is a cameo, where the figure stands up from the surface.
The Romans used intaglios as seals. A carved stone set into a ring could be pressed into warm wax to leave a raised image — a signature, effectively, that couldn't be forged without the stone itself. The profile heads, animals and gods on those seals are the source of almost every carved-stone piece made since.
Ours are carved stone profiles set in prong bezels, made in that tradition. They're not antiques, and they don't pretend to be. What they share with the originals is the idea that a single carved face can carry a story on its own.
Who are the faces?
Each carved piece refers to a specific figure, and knowing which is half the point.
| Piece | Who it is | What they stood for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nefertiti Agate Gold Pendant | Egyptian queen, 14th century BC | Beauty and power held together; her painted bust is one of the most recognised faces from the ancient world | £96.00 |
| Apollo Blue Agate Pendant | Greek god, crowned with laurel | Light, music, prophecy | £96.00 |
| Medusa Blue Agate Silver Pendant | The Gorgon | Protection — her face was carved on shields and doorways to turn harm away | £96.00 |
| Ancient Bee Agate Pendant | The bee of Ephesus | Abundance; it appeared on the city's coins for centuries | £96.00 |
The Nefertiti is the one to start with if you want the most distinctive piece. The stone is a warm reddish brown rather than the saturated blue of the others, the setting is gold-plated, and the profile reads clearly even at a distance.
Why do ancient coins keep coming back?
Because a coin is the most portable piece of history there is. It was made to be carried, handled and passed on, and it carries the face of whoever mattered most at the time it was struck.
The Ancient Medusa Coin Clip-on Pendant (£60.75) sets an antique-style coin in a gold-plated bezel. The Janus Silver Coin Clip-on Pendant (£60.00) carries the Roman god of doorways and beginnings — January is named after him, which makes it an unusually good gift for anyone starting something.
Both clip on and off any chain, so they sit comfortably alongside the carved pendants rather than competing with them. Charm Pendants explains how the fitting works.
Is there anything more everyday than a god?
Yes — and it's arguably the most interesting piece in this group.
The Patera Bowl Charm Clip-On Silver Pendant (£66.75) takes its shape from the patera, a shallow bowl used across the Greek and Roman world to pour offerings of wine or oil. The same object survives in the Turkish hamam, where a shallow hammered bowl is still used to pour water. One shape, carried from temple to bathhouse over two thousand years.
It's the quietest way into the classical look: no face, no myth to explain, just a form that has been in continuous use for longer than almost any other.
Silver or gold setting?
Decide by the stone, not by the rest of your jewellery.
Warm stones like the reddish-brown Nefertiti sit best in gold-plated settings, which is how they're made. Saturated blues read cleaner against silver, which is why the Medusa blue agate is set in sterling. The Apollo and Ancient Bee are exceptions, blue in gold, and they're the more dramatic for it.
If you already wear mostly silver, a single gold-set carved pendant is the easiest way to bring a second metal in. Mixed Metals covers why that works.
How do you wear it without looking like a costume?
Wear one piece, and wear it with something modern.
The costume effect comes from accumulation — a carved pendant, plus a coin, plus a laurel motif, plus draped fabric. One carved face over a plain knit or a white shirt reads as deliberate. Three read as a theme.
For the wrist, the Nefertiti Chalcedony Chain Bracelet (£144.00) does the work on its own: a chunky chain of alternating gold-plated and darkened silver links, with a single carved black profile at the front. It needs nothing else on the same arm.
And keep the chain simple. The carved stone is the detail; the chain is there to carry it.
Every piece is handmade in our Istanbul workshop and shipped from London. Most designs exist in one or two examples only, and the whole collection is currently part of the Archive Sale. The full range is in Pendants and Necklaces.
For what the symbols mean beyond their history, Symbols Worth Wearing goes through them one by one.