Karno Davoudian

Artisan Organization: Karno Davoudian

Country: Armenia

"I am a 4th generation jeweler. My great great grandfather was a goldsmith from Marash. After the Armenian genocide, he was forced to move to Syria with his family, and he continued his profession as a goldsmith there. I was taught by my father, and we would make different jewelry designs using gold that fit the Syrian market.

"The Syrian war started in 2011, and it was difficult living in a wartime environment. My family and I decided to move to Armenia in 2015. After settling down for a while, we started creating jewelry again.

"At the beginning it was quite difficult to jump into the market, but we used a very specific strategy to find our position and succeed. We started to create silver bracelets and necklaces designed around the traditional Armenian bird that is shaped like letters. We created the designs with the details and colors similar to the original bird letters found in the old books.

"Later, we started to produce new designs of motifs that were used in traditional Armenian architecture and on Armenian carpets. We chose to make rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces. The market welcomed our new production and we started to sell more in very special places such as museums and jewelry shops.

"Now we are planning to train young people to support us, so that they can learn the craft of making beautiful designs on jewelry.""