Nikos Koulis, between creative tension and technical rigour.
Sotheby’s Paris has welcomed a new chapter in contemporary jewelry with the capsule exhibition by the Greek designer Nikos Koulis. On the occasion of Haute Couture Week, the event marks a controlled foray into a universe where intimate storytelling and formal innovation intertwine.
The WISH collection is a manifesto as well as a laboratory. Designed around a childhood memory: the act of blowing on a licorice plant. This collection reinvents the codes of high-value jewelry by incorporating unconventional materials such as aluminum. This unusual presence is not just a stylistic effect; it structures, lightens, and stretches the forms. Here, aluminum becomes a vehicle for experimentation, especially in the articulated pieces, which conceal complex engineering while asserting a fluid silhouette.
The presented collection brings together thirty creations, combining unique pieces and numbered editions. Some reinterpret Nikos Koulis’ signature designs, others explore new territories. It features a collection of cut diamonds in various shapes and sizes, as well as a range of necklaces, bracelets and rings. moval, A hybrid format that defies convention to better reevaluate the notion of proportion. Elsewhere, two bracelets adorned with deep green emeralds play the game of chromatic tension and mineral density.
Nikos Koulis does not seek to illustrate a fixed idea of luxury. He questions the very structure of the jewel: how to create the illusion of movement, how to conceal the mechanics without betraying the form? This research is part of a holistic approach where design, engineering, and aesthetics are mutually responsive without hierarchy.
With WISH, Sotheby’s does not just exhibit. It introduces into the market jewelry conceived as a language, halfway between portable sculpture and conceptual work.
