Persepolis Palmette Necklace

More than two thousand years ago, the palaces and ceremonial spaces of Achaemenid Persia were decorated with an extraordinary vocabulary of carved ornament.

Alongside monumental figures, animals and processions appeared elegant patterns drawn from the natural world — flowers, leaves and repeating vegetal forms transformed into architectural decoration.

The inspiration for the Persepolis Palmette Necklace began with one such ancient Persian wall carving.

Its distinctive palmette form — spreading outwards in layers of delicately arranged leaves — was translated from ancient architectural ornament into a piece of jewellery.

Although the precise carving that originally inspired our design has yet to be identified, its form reflects the rich decorative traditions of the Achaemenid world.

The design was later created exclusively for the British Museum's From Greece to Persia exhibition, bringing an ancient decorative form into a new setting thousands of years after the world that first inspired it.

Rather than reproducing the carving as an archaeological replica, the Persepolis Palmette Necklace reimagines its ancient form in miniature — a fragment of architectural ornament transformed into something that can be worn today.