Old for new: the allure of antique pieces The Times Francesca Fearon Old for new: the allure of antique pieces The use of ancient artefacts in contemporary jewellery is a growing trend — and also a legal and ethical dilemma Zendaya wears Materials of the Old World earrings in yellow gold Getty images Francesca Fearon Friday October 16 2026, 11.00pm BST , The Times Listen 0:00 / · 8:09 min Share Share this article Email Twitter Facebook Link Save Puzzles Challenge yourself with today's puzzles. A t a London photo call promoting this summer's blockbuster film The Odyssey , Zendaya, the actress who portrays the goddess Athena, wore a pair of large 3,000-year-old gold Persian discs mounted in earrings. The plaques are attributed to the Ziwiye hoard, discovered in northwest Iran in 1947. Their appearance threw a spotlight on the trade in archaeological finds, provoking comments from academics and experts about the provenance and ownership of antiquities and whether, in this case, it is ethical to use them as jewellery. Luxury newsletter The inside track on tech, travel, philanthropy and the hottest handbags, cars and spas. Sign up with one click You've successfully signed up to the Luxury newsletter Explore our newsletters An error occurred. Please use the link below. Luxury newsletter Explore our newsletters Mounted in gold wire frames set with diamonds, the earrings were borrowed from the Mayfair-based gallery and dealer Barron London, having been acquired from the jewellery specialist Glenn Spiro. Spiro's Materials of the Old World collection is intended to bring awareness to ancient craftsmanship while respecting the integrity of the original materials. Top stories 1 US inflation hotter than expected as Iran war stokes fuel costs Economics “It's not about changing what the material was, but framing it in a way that allows its importance to be appreciated once more,” says Spiro's son and co-director Joe, who developed the collection. The discs are understood to have been remounted in the past 200 years, and Spiro says he feels a responsibility “to protect the artefact, to be aware and sensitive to its history”. Carthaginian necklace in glass beads and gold, circa 4th-2nd century BC, POA; barron-london.com Advertisement The wafer-thin discs are tin-gold alloy, which, if melted down, would barely amount to three karats of pure gold and the value would be less than ￡100. However, showcased in this way and then sprinkled with celebrity stardust, the earrings have raised the profile of an ancient culture — albeit in the face of uproar from archaeologists and art historians. Many consider it disrespectful to repurpose artefacts as jewellery, although these discs, according to Joe Spiro, are understood to have been mounted originally as necklaces. Earrings in white gold, Egyptian faience beads and diamonds, ￡11,440; oktaaf.com Top stories 1 Theo Paphitis: I bought a ￡100m business for ￡1 and two packs of Benson & Hedges Family Finances 2 Record fines for motorist victims of car cloning Family Finances 3 Premium Bonds are fun – until you realise what they are costing you Saving & Investing 4 Will Lyons: my vintage wine tour of South Australia Inspiration There were also questions from critics about whether these items, along with other pieces from the Ziwiye hoard, left Iran legally, even though many of these objects are now housed in museums around the world. Most commented 1 Sonay Kartal defeats Elina Svitolina to reach Wuhan Open semi-finals Tennis 16 comments These gold discs were certified and authenticated by the experts at David Aaron gallery, which specialises in classical Greek, Roman, Egyptian, near Eastern and Islamic art. A statement issued by Glenn Spiro says, “It is important to clarify [that] Ziwiye material was not all discovered as part of that one single find in 1947 — that is a misconception. The term is used more broadly for artefacts associated with the site and the artistic tradition. These discs are therefore not presented as documented objects from the 1947 discovery, but they are accompanied by the available provenance and expert authentication.” Earrings in yellow gold with 18th-century agate cameo, ￡13,500; maisonauclert.com Advertisement Barron London's owner, Charlie Barron, got positive feedback from clients representing a broad base of cultures, including US-based Iranian customers. “I've received messages about how glad they are to see us flying the flag for their culture,” he says. Earrings in yellow gold and 19th-century Baoulé gold, POA; glennspiro.com Provenance is fundamental to working with ancient artefacts. Historically, it was not an issue. The ancient Egyptians set older artefacts into jewellery. From medieval times up to the 19th century, jewellers often set earlier engraved gems into their pieces, while in the 1900s, Cartier began making unique jewellery with Egyptian scarabs. However, the laws on provenance have been increasingly strictly interpreted and applied, even though jewellers have not always been aware of the changing landscape. Necklace with antique blue chalcedony beads, ￡18,000; maisonauclert.com Selling something ancient — whether a Greek vase or ancient gold discs hanging from earrings — is widely considered unethical unless there is a good documented provenance predating any national laws in the object's country of origin. These laws often date back many decades, sometimes to the 19th century. Advertisement Where there is no national law, the 1970 Unesco convention on the illicit trafficking of cultural property gives that year as a baseline date. Queen of Ithaca necklace with 7th-century BC Etruscan gold pendant; kapistree.com Recent legal cases have shown that our national theft laws take this wider context into consideration. Something excavated and exported from, for example, Egypt or Iran without proper export documentation and treated as theft under those countries' laws is thus seen as theft in the UK as well. It becomes more complicated if countries have been embroiled in warfare. Since the Cultural Property (Armed Conflicts) Act 2017, selling cultural objects from those countries without robust documentation to show they left the area before 2017 can be a criminal offence. In France, according to the Paris-based jeweller and gallerist Marc Auclert, who repurposes Greek and Hellenistic glyptics, gold coins and beads from the second millennium BC into contemporary jewellery, the law is even more onerous. “You now must prove how anything from Egypt and the Middle East was legally exported at the time, so if it was exported in the early 1900s, it would be impossible to prove,” he says. Byzantine gold cross, POA; barron-london.com Advertisement Ushabti pendant in yellow gold and brown diamonds, ￡16,700; bibivandervelden.com People have been collecting artefacts since the late Renaissance, when Pompeii and Herculaneum were uncovered. Many collections date back to the 1700s, with treasures acquired by the Marlborough, Medici and Poniatowski families, for example, changing hands through dealers and auctions over the centuries. Sasanian glyph bracelet in silver and carnelian, ￡1,495; oktaaf.com Charlie Barron explains that many rare antiquities are now obtained from American collections, “because the Americans bought so much of it between 1870 and the Fifties from Europe”. Barron only buys from auctions in Europe and America, from private clients and jewellers with a legitimate chain of custody and properly documented provenance. Jacob Sedgwick, who with his partner and designer, Dr Natalie Williams, founded Kapistree, collects artefacts such as carved stones, seals and Etruscan plaques to use in jewellery settings. He emphasises how the private market cares for the artefacts, preventing their devaluation. “If they have no financial value they will be misplaced, damaged and, in the case of gold items, continue to be lost,” Sedgwick says. “The biggest tragedy with ancient jewellery of any kind is that 99 per cent of it gets melted down for bullion by the looters.” Advertisement Viking gold ring, POA; barron-london.com Monete bracelet with Roman silver coin, POA; bulgari.com The jewellery historian and gemologist Joanna Hardy agrees. “It gives a new lease of life and a new appreciation of what it was — as long as all the correct procedures have been adhered to in terms of provenance,” she says. “It is wonderful to share and gives great kudos to pieces that were made thousands of years ago. It keeps them alive.” In Spain, Beatriz Carranza and her Belgian business partner, Karel de Beule, of Oktaaf, are on a similar mission to Glenn Spiro, Auclert and Kapistree. Their range spans 3,500-year-old faience beads from Egypt and neolithic and Mesopotamian seals dating back to 5,100BC, all sourced from antiquities dealers and auctions and all certified. Meanwhile, in Amsterdam, Bibi van der Velden, who recently set tiny 3,000-year-old Egyptian ushabti figures (found in tombs by the hundreds) in rock crystal pendants, consults the Dutch Egyptologist Mieke Zilverberg about auction purchases. Ring in red gold, sapphires and onyx Roman cameo, ￡16,000; maisonauclert.com Contemplating the question of whether it is ethical to set ancient artefacts into contemporary designs, Jacob Sedgwick maintains that “ancient jewellery was originally jewellery [and] it bothers me when archaeologists declare it only accessible and touchable by other archaeologists”, he says. “People collect artefacts that are extraordinary for their artistic or personal quality,” he continues. “Presenting a fresh perspective on artefact jewellery is a very human way of keeping the past alive and conserving heritage objects.” glennspiro.com ; maisonauclert.com ; kapistree.com ; oktaaf.com ; bibivandervelden.com Life & Style LUXX Jewellery Share Share this article Email Twitter Facebook Link Save