This necklace unites two ancient silver drachms in a deliberate composition: a coin of Aphrodite struck in Corinth around 308–307 BC, and an Illyrian coin of Pegasos dated c. 344–300 BC. Each is set in satin-finished 18k yellow gold and joined by a connector with a chocolate brown diamond.
Aphrodite’s portrait, finely preserved, reflects the refined naturalism of late Classical numismatic art. Her features are calm, her expression composed, her hair elegantly gathered. This is Aphrodite as she was understood in Corinth, not simply beautiful, but authoritative. The goddess of love, beauty, and desire, she governs these forces rather than yielding to them.
Her presence on Corinthian coinage was no accident. Aphrodite held particular importance in the city’s religious and civic identity; her sanctuary crowned the Acrocorinth, overlooking the polis she protected. To place her image on currency was to align Corinth’s wealth and prestige with her patronage as a mark of divine favour and civic pride.
On the reverse of such coins, Pegasos traditionally appears flying left. The winged horse was the emblem of Corinth itself, evoking the city’s mythic lineage through Bellerophon and the fountain of Peirene, where Pegasos was said to have been tamed. In numismatic terms, he functioned as a civic symbol: energy, movement, and aspiration made visible.
In this necklace, however, we have chosen a different coin: one in which Pegasos flies right, toward Aphrodite. Pegasos, emblem of motion, creative impulse, and freedom, becomes not a symbol placed behind her authority but a force drawn toward her. This composition stages a meeting: the dynamic and the composed, motion and magnetism, instinct and mastery.
The setting, in satin-finished gold with accents of brown diamonds and a rhodium-plated silver chain, provides a restrained framework for the ancient silver. Every element serves to focus attention on the encounter itself — on the charged balance between these two figures.
Aphrodite’s calm sovereignty — the power to attract without pursuit — and Pegasos’ flight towards her mirror creative instinct and freedom of spirit. Together, they articulate a timeless equilibrium between stillness and motion, mastery and impulse.
