Summary

Mock-up of two gold Rolex watches, two gold nonstandard straps and a Rolls Royce car driving through long grass. It appears to be a composite created from two separate images, one of a car driving through grass, and the other of the watches and straps. The car can be identified as a 1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow while the watches featured are both Rolex Oyster Perpetual Watches, with one being the 'date-just' model and the other being the 'day-date' model. The straps pictured are custom straps that would have been manufactured as extra alternatives by GK Jewellery. The composite image was created by Emerald Hill Studio, South Melbourne and has their studio name plate sticker on the reverse. The object is part of the collection that details the work of George Kyriakides, and the successive silversmithing and jewellery businesses in which he was involved.

George Kyriakides was born in 1921 in Larnaca, on the southern coast of Cyprus. In his early working years he was apprenticed to his father Petrou Kyriacou as a silversmith and in 1948 George migrated to Melbourne, Australia. In 1949 he married Australian-born Silvia Sarandis, the child of Greek migrants and they had two children. Using his skills as a silversmith, he worked for a local silverware company and then proceeded to start his own silversmithing business under the name Saracen Plate Company, situated at 152 Lygon St, Carlton. A manufacturing wholesale business, they sold mainly to large clients such as Myers and Prouds Jewellery. In 1974 George sold the wholesale silversmithing part of the business due to the difficulty in obtaining pure metals, and continued to work as a Jeweller under the name GK Jewellery until his retirement and beyond. In later years George was known for his philanthropic generosity and in 2006 he died and is survived by his two children.

Physical Description

The object is a mock-up that shows a burgundy 1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, two custom made watch straps, and two Rolex Oyster Perpetual watches with custom straps attached. Features two gold Rolex watches, two gold nonstandard straps and a burgundy Rolls Royce car driving through long grass. It appears to be a composite created from two separate images, one of a car driving through grass, and the other of the watches and straps. The image with the car is heavily warm-toned and slightly blurry. The images of the watches and straps in contrast are sharp and detail rich. The car can be identified as a 1979 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow. The watches featured are both Rolex Oyster Perpetual Watches, with one being the 'date-just' model and the other being the 'day-date' model.

Significance

Statement of Historical Significance:
This collection offers a multi-faceted snapshot of a migrant small business in Lygon Street Carlton through tools of trade, product catalogue and a sample of the silverware produced for retail. It thus encapsulates a small business activity from production through to sale and distribution. It includes a beautiful filigree tray as well as more mainstream domestic silverware items. The collection enables the documentation of the passing on of trade traditions and skills from one generation to the next and the bringing of those skills to Australia, as well as capturing a particular craft, filigree work, which is a disappearing artform

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