A story hidden inside each creation
All my creations are designed and handcrafted by me from my home studio at the foot of the White Horse hill (Oxfordshire). My focus is on making unique and meaningful jewellery. It is part of my inspiration process that most of my creations are one of a kind.
My initial training in archaeology and my fascination for art and crafts has inspired me to learn about transforming metals and combining different materials to create little poetic keepsakes. They are like little messages or poems to wear, or to offer to someone. I like to create a dialogue between the maker and the wearer, and in turn between the wearer and the people around.
I use traditional silversmithing techniques to create contemporary statement rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Cloelea Jewellery pieces are sustainably produced using recycled precious metals (sterling silver, 9ct and 18 ct gold) and a variety of precious and semi-precious stones (amongst my favourites: labradorite, opal, moonstone, garnet…).
Through material exploration and experimentation, I try to capture the worn appearance but also precious nature of ancient artefacts. The textured effects are a reminiscence of the state of deterioration of archaeological objects dug up from the ground. I strive to bring out the preciousness of imperfections and the magic of small objects.
Guided by memories of my travels or quotes from books and poems I have read, I often explore themes such as concealment, scarification or intimacy to produce poetic pieces that are sensitive, ethereal and original.
The elegance of Art Nouveau designs, with its strong curved lines and obsession for myriad of wings, is another aspect of my work. I like to play with the space in between, with shadows and with the way the piece can envelop the body and become part of it.
My work has been showcased at the British Museum, the Royal Cornwall Museum, the Heritage Craft Centre (in Coleshill), and in several exhibitions in Oxford. I am a member of the Oxfordshire Craft Guild, the Guild of Jewellery Designers, West OX Arts and Faringdon Art Society. Each year, I take part in Oxfordshire Artweeks Festival.
Chloe Romanos
I am a jewellery artist and goldsmith, originally from the south of France, now living in Oxfordshire (UK).
From a young age, I discovered the Art world through learning a wide range of art and crafts while studying at ‘Les Ateliers de la Castellane’, a collective of European artists and crafters in the south of France. My interest in ancient techniques, Art movements and the act of creativity developed during my Degree and Master in Art History and Archaeology, in Paris, Sorbonne University.
I then moved to England to study jewellery techniques and designing as well as silversmithing at the prestigious Jewellery School in Birmingham, where I found my ‘voice’, my favourite medium of communication.
Along side training as a jeweller, I completed a PhD in Archaeology, specialising in the study of material culture and fabrication techniques as mean to question our understanding of population migration in Late Bronze Age Greece. It led me to focus on how we define identity through creativity.
I also lived in Athens (Greece), where I learnt to use non-precious materials and surface texture effects, at ‘Anamma’ Art Jewellery school, and started my journey into the world of ‘Art Jewellery’ : a more thought-provoking, conceptual and philosophical approach to the world of jewellery.
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Les créations de *Cloelea* sont des bijoux entièrement fait main et remplis d’histoires et d’émotions. Il y a toujours une histoire derrière un bijou!
Chaque pièce est réalisée à la main en utilisant les techniques traditionnelles de la joaillerie. Je travaille principalement l’argent et l’or et j’aime beaucoup utiliser les pierres précieuses. Il m’arrive aussi de travailler avec des matières que l’on ne s’attend pas à voir dans un bijou (caillou intéressant, coquillage, plumes, morceau de bois…) ; parce que pour moi ce n’est pas vraiment la matière utilisée qui rend l’objet précieux et unique, c’est la signification qu’il prend pour celui qui l’offre ou le porte.
Je modèle le métal telle une alchimiste pour créer des bijoux vibrant de poésie, puisant mon inspiration dans l’art, les collections archéologiques, et les divers pays où j’ai voyagé (Grèce, Thaïlande, Inde, Malaisie, Bornéo, Egypte…). J’aime que mes créations aient une histoire à elles et j’aime aussi que cette histoire se transforme et change quand elles appartiennent à quelqu’un d’autre.
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A little bit about my work in Oxfordshire Craft Guild Newsletter:
Magazine Features:
Smck magazine, Issue 12, October 2025
A lexicon for jewellers in love
Faringdon Town Magazine
Edition 6, 2023
Wantage Town Magazine
Edition 3, 2022
The Magic in Transformation
Current Obsession Paper
Spring 2021
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Oxfordshire Artweeks Festival, Artist Profile:
Chloe Romanos
” From Archaeology to Jewellery Designer
I am a French expatriate living in a tiny Oxfordshire stone cottage where I design and create jewellery from, using traditional silversmithing techniques. I like to sit at my workbench, surrounded by my tools, with music in the background, that is where my inspiration comes to life, in this little bubble. My creative process and design inspiration comes from all the different paths I took in my life.
As a child I wanted to be an archaeologist, discovering amazing forgotten treasures (like Indiana Jones!), and at the same time I was also dreaming of becoming an artist. I wanted to be able to express myself using other means than voice and words. I did not like to talk but I did feel like I had a lot I wanted to express.
I studied art history and archaeology in Paris, went to almost all the museums, learning about Renaissance, Art Nouveau, the Greek Bronze Age… While I was analysing in great details the texture of handmade pottery at the museum of Mycenae (cited in Homer’s poems), in Greece, it became a fascination for me to look at the worn, rough, pitted, crackled textured surfaces of ancient artefacts. The way time had transformed them into something very different was for me as much interesting and beautiful as the initial object. Whilst doing a PhD on travelling artisans, I realised that I wanted to learn an ancient craft: use similar techniques and tools, and actually experience what I had been studying.
When I discovered silversmithing I was mesmerised by the ‘magic’ of metal transformation, with almost endless possibilities. I studied silversmithing and jewellery making at the Jewellery School in Birmingham. Each learning step I took was a uncovering journey. I like the toughness of the material: you need to use some strength to work with it, and I also like that it is messy (like a child playing outside!), your hands are dirty, you end up with tools everywhere around your bench and silver or gold dust on your fingers. My formal training was short, I learnt the basic techniques and then I trained myself, with trial and error, practice and being a bit daring with my abilities and my design ideas. I wanted to be able to find my own style, that “voice” I was looking for. “
https://www.artweeks.org/p/chloe-romanos-woa/
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Cloelea Jewellery 