Hello to all from George Chakiris.

I’d like to explain how I became interested in making jewelry, and how I developed my jewelry collection.

As many of you know, I have been an actor most of my life, a profession I love and have always enjoyed very much. It has allowed me to visit and work in many parts of the world, working with wonderful and talented people in different countries and meeting many famous people, who I have always found very interesting to spend time with.

Acting is a very creative profession, and has never stopped being truly interesting to me. It always will be. The only thing that was sometimes difficult for me was constantly traveling, and spending many months at a time away from home and my family. We are a very close family, so I missed them a lot when I was away.

I also had a beautiful little dog whose name was Sami. He is an Italian Greyhound, very sleek and beautiful. He looked like a little deer. When I took him for walks, the children in the neighborhood loved to call him “Bambi”. He did look like he could have been in a Walt Disney movie. In 1997 I was away again working in London on a project, and I was gone about nine months. When I got home I was so happy to see Sami, and I know he was happy to see me. Then it occurred to me that nine months was a long time out of his life, so I decided to stay home so I could spend all my time with him…I turned down all offers of work so that I could be home with Sami, and so that he could be with me. I knew he missed me when I was gone, and his feelings were important to me. That was when I decided to take classes in jewelry making, just as a hobby.

I loved the classes and learning something new. Very soon I was “hooked”. I really loved it. As I said, acting is a very creative profession, but I found that jewelry making was also very creative. Creating different pieces takes imagination and concentration, so I continued classes to learn the technical aspect of jewelry making as well. So now everything was perfect. I was home, learning a new creative outlet, and I was with Sami too. Being with him taught me to be a real animal lover. I have such respect for their intelligence and wonderful natural instincts. I believe in living in harmony with animals, whose right to a good life is no less important than ours. They have feelings and needs just as we do. The earth belongs to them as much as it does to us. So with Sami by my side, each day was new and exciting with much to look forward to.


The first piece of jewelry I made in class was a “Scarab” Cuff Bracelet. The inspiration for this bracelet came from one of the treasures found in the tomb of the young Egyptian King Tutankhamen. The objects found in his tomb are amazing. The Scarab is a beetle which was considered very good luck in ancient Egypt. The Scarab Cuff found in his tomb is very ornate and detailed and very beautiful. I decided to create my Scarab Bracelet with very simple and clean lines. I have used the Scarab in other pieces I have designed.

My collection has followed this idea of simplicity. To me, there is beauty in simplicity. As an actor I hoped that I could communicate and please the audience through a performance. Now I hope that I can communicate and please the audience with my jewelry collection. It is the audience, after all, that we work for, whether it is through acting, or through jewelry. Both are creative, and both are ways of communicating with an audience. That is what I hope to accomplish.

My best wishes to all,

George Chakiris