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Through hostile occupations by the Persians, Romans, Ottomans and Germans, internal strife, good economies and bad, the Greeks have been making jewelry for over 5000 years. The underlying foundation of this tradition is love, hard work, and the desire to please each customer, one order at a time. For this reason we've partnered with independent, family run workshops who are dedicated to the tradition of hand-crafted jewelry making, and whose manufacturing happens entirely in Greece.
Our mission is to represent and cultivate this important part of the world’s artistic heritage while honoring the reason it exists in the first place (you—our customers).
May Days
The biggest photo shoot ever planned by Athena Gaia AND the designers. Focus was on 18k gold by Maramenos & Pateras and Kouzoupis. With months of planning, over 300 pieces were brought to life.
(L-R): Antonis Pateras, Antonis Kouzoupis, Xeretini Pateras prepping a jacket, Peter Bradley diffusing light, Nicolli modeling. (Photo by Joanne)
A River of Choice
One-of-a-kind gemstone necklaces were introduced by Maramenos & Pateras. Decorated in 18k gold detail, this new collection allows customization on many levels.
The photo shoot in Athens helped us define this and 10 other collections by Kouzoupis and Maramenos & Pateras.
Fresh from Gerochristo Jewelry
First new shoot of the year came from Gerochristo, introducing the Kynthia Collection and Thalassa Collection of fun yet sophisticated sea creatures.
Outstanding Additions
Joanne and Pete are thrilled with their decision to hire new remote help. Prianca and Raphael come on board in March. The store flourishes with their essential responsibilities, including social media management, price control, organization, content updates, research, video, editing, and more and more and more.
Partial Payments
No need to pay in full—A seamless option is introduced offering our customers a 50% deposit, with automated billing once their jewelry was crafted and ready to ship. The motivation was both to help customers make payments in installments - but also to give customers a sense of ease while waiting for their orders to be made in Greece.
A Jewel In Jules
It is now our second summer with Julia interning with us. She now has full run of the photo equipment without Joanne overseeing—aside from her duties of video editing, photo processing, and page design. She's graduating from college before next summer and we're sad to know she will be moving on to new opportunities. She is integral part these past two summers, with remote work in between.
Seriously Fun
Meet Orestis - our very busy photographer in Greece. His keen eye for detail makes for serious studio shots, and his humor makes for easy communication, often from abroad. We look forward to every shutter-click. He joined us this year to help bring life to the newest designs in the store.
IT Efficiency Improvements
A big thank you goes to Quentin Hilman. If you run a business and are looking for ways to manage and streamline your information flow, and optimize your efficiency call Powerapps911! Affordable, professional and effective help from some of the nicest people we've met in the IT industry.
In With The New
We said goodbye to an old friend in Damaskos, but picked up Maramenos & Pateras and Kouzoupis, both offering unique designs in 18k gold.
With these two workshops, we gained access to over 5,000 new designs. The best news: These guys are hard working and capable professionals—we couldn't do it any other way.
The year of people who help us
Rapid growth can be a little scary, so it's great to have people along for the ride who really care about what we're doing. We had some great photo shoots (some with models, some just on new products), surrounded by office help with organization and inventory.
Hair and Makeup:
Andrea Saavedra
Models:
"Model M"
Elizabeth Reinertsen
Office Help:
Kristin, Melissa, and Amelia
Our Local Jeweler (alterations and more):
Everyone at R Weiss Jewelers—Bernards, NJ
The Run
In February we made it to the Athens International Jewelry Show.
At that point, nobody understood the severity of the epidemic that was to come. We flew out of Greece with news of a virus circulating and panic starting.
We were lucky to land back in the US safe and healthy in early March after meeting with artists we'd be adding to the store later this year.
The Crawl
It turned out to be a very productive year for Athena Gaia. The slowdown allowed us to add three new artists to the store: Yianni and Stilvi (both sterling silver workshops) who we met in Athens, and Al'Oro (14k gold workshop), a former vendor in Pete's earlier store. Once COVID-19 shut many options down, the rest of the year was dedicated to taking photos and building out the store.
We ended the year by getting reacquainted with our pets, wearing masks and "zooming" people (yay!)
Athena's Treasures gets re-branded!
Athena Gaia is introduced to the world
Athena
Known as the goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicraft, Athena is perhaps best known as the patron of Athens, an honor she competed with Poseidon to win. The Parthenon was built in her honor and she's one of the name-sakes for our store. Her symbols included a tiny owl, which has stood for wisdom for over 3000 years as a result.
Gaia
Gaia is the ancestral mother of all life, the original Mother Earth Goddess. She is believed to be the original deity behind the Oracle of Delphi and oaths sworn to her in ancient Greece were believed to be the most binding of all. She is part of our name because she was also the "Giver of Gifts."
National News
Athena's Treasures is featured in the Greek Jewelry "Businesses To Know" special edition of The National Herald.
ASCSA Gala
Joanne and Pete attend their first ASCSA Gala in NYC, later to be invited onto the Gala's marketing committee.
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA), established as the oldest and largest U.S. research center abroad, consists of a consortium of nearly 200 North American colleges and universities. It offers a platform for graduate students and scholars to engage in comprehensive studies of Greek culture, spanning from ancient times to the modern era.
A bigger showing
It's another Athens International Jewelry Show. Joining them again is Employee #1, Håvard Wattum.
This year the plans now include a week of photo shoots for Damaskos and Gerochristo after the show. Since the jewelry is now made, Pete and Joanne arrange for a model to make the jewelry come alive before the pieces head off to the local island stores.
The next few months are spent busily editing photographs and adding new jewelry.
What about second breakfast?
Buddy the office dog eats two chairs. He becomes the topic of many conversations with our pet-friendly customers.
First for some
Peter brings Joanne to her first Athens International Jewelry Show. Joining them is Employee #1, Håvard Wattum.
What's for lunch?
Buddy the office dog eats the office iPad, the 360 degree photography turntable, and a camera tripod.
Gold Rush
Joanne and Peter move further out west in New Jersey,
allowing for a full photo studio and web production department to be onsite.
Joanne takes her first trip to Greece!
Peter introduces her to the designers and the workshop process.
Securing a best friend
Buddy the office dog is born! (English Black Lab). He makes it home at 8 weeks old, just before the New Year. Joanne already has seven cats, which Pete loves and adores as his own ;)
New Partnership
Joanne, an established E-commerce professional, is motivated to put her photo and web development skills to life with high end jewelry. J Peter Bradley LLC is incorporated, with Peter and Joanne sharing ownership.
The Summer of Interns
The store is re-built (again!)
TWENTY of Joanne's NYU graduate students sign up for the re-launch of Athena's Treasures on its new E-commerce platform with new design, SEO, and full social media presence. Eight interns make the cut and work hard to make the Sept 1 re-launch deadline.
Pete meets Joanne!
They cyber-meet in October, and exchange many texts while Pete finishes visiting family in California and Joanne completes her travels with family in central Europe.
First date: November 13 at Pig and Prince in Joanne's home town of Montclair, New Jersey, where Pete is now living while IT consulting in New York City.
Second date: full day in Nyack, NY, enjoying what they still love to do today: Visiting art galleries and eating sushi (with just a little bit of wine).
Third or fourth date (memory is fuzzy when in love): Pete calls up the existing website to show Joanne a sampling of his past ten years of photography.
Determined To Look Forward
Pete takes a sabbatical year to continue his previous professional development with Microsoft certifications, and to focus on personal growth following his significant life transition.
Pete's Domain
To keep things manageable, only a few of the higher volume designers remain on athenas-treasures.com. Pete fields occasional emails and calls, but ponders the fate of the store.
Social fandom still growing
Athena's Treasures Facebook page receives over 20,000 fans/followers
Back in the US
Pete, his son, and ex-wife relocate to Pete's home town of Allentown, PA to ponder their next direction.
From eBay to Dotcom
Pete buys athenas-treasures.com to keep up with modern sales channels, and has to re-create his entire store (again) as he eyes his path back to the US.
Struggles with eBay
In a major setback with PayPal, eBay accidentally deletes the Athena's Treasures store. Pete has to build an entirely new store with a new name that results in a 50% traffic loss.
Delicate Times
The Al'Oro Collection is added—A dainty touch in solid 14k gold.
A lot of Likes
Athena's Treasures launches on Facebook.
Often Challenging
Pete and his family experience some personal frustrations. As they work through it, the store is seeing new, happy customers despite the 2008 economic downturn in the US.
The spread of smartphones spurs growth in mobile commerce, changing how consumers shop online. Payment options evolve, with PayPal enhancing online transaction safety and convenience, but also becoming a bit too big to protect its sellers (foreshadowing for the next year).
More Color
Pete's success lands more designers interested in selling with him. He adds Polemis, Kapsaskis, Korifidis, and Giampouras.
Celebrate Good Times
Pete celebrates selling 100 Gerochristo pieces in one month by buying Spiros a bottle of Dom Pérignon.
The store is thriving for these years, but only with Pete's constant attention and fast shutter-clicking on over 1 million photos. He has now established a very close relationship with all of the designers and their families and is a first point of contact for all international sales outside of a physical store.
He has essentially launched the Greek jewelry industry into a new world of trusted e-commerce.
More options
Pete adds Amanatidis to the store.
Unmatched Artistry
Pete is introduced to Damaskos by Spiros Gerochristo.
The store now offers a world-class line of handmade 18k gold jewelry.
Still on eBay, Athena's Treasures begins to thrive.
New Idea
Three days after the Olympics in Athens, Pete buys a Gerochristo cross and successfully sells it on eBay.
"Athena's Treasures" is born and begins selling all types of Greek Jewelry by Gerochristo. Soon after, he adds the work of Evangelatos.
New Home
Pete moves his family from New York City to Greece, where they have family already living in Athens.
September 11, 2001
Pete survives the 9/11 attack by escaping WTC1 (the North tower). He had just returned from a vacation in Greece on the previous day and was on the 39th floor when the first plane hit.
Two years later his son will be born, and memories of this day will become a factor leading to his decision to leave New York City and head to Athens.
Just like the old furniture store, we are a family run business that deals with family run businesses. During the past 20 years we've dealt with many workshops, but we've only kept the ones who are both great at what they do, modern enough to understand the demands of the digital age, but small enough to care about each customer.
Because when you deal with a family business in Greece - that's exactly how you get treated, like family.
We have pages dedicated to each of our designers, but this one is a great place to learn more: "our designers"
Peter Bradley
After surviving 9/11 Peter moved to Greece to discover one of the world’s hidden treasures; the artisans of the Greek jewelry industry. Over the past 18 years he has worked to bring worldwide recognition to their work with his inception of Athena's Gaia. He loves to personally interact with customers and collaborates with the craftsmen to ensure that each piece of jewelry is exactly what it should be; valued forever!
Joanne Borek
A professional Photographer, former Creative Director in NYC and professor at NYU, Joanne has used her talents to expand Athena Gaia's presence. Her data-driven creative spirit enlightens the personality for the store, and she energizes the business by providing customers with a seamless experience through all forms of communication.
Photography
Jan Greco
Orestis Rovakis
Makeup & Styling
Andrea Saavedra
Evi Karali
Models
Elizabeth Conte
Neda Vidakovic
Nicolli Dela Nina
Micaela
Ageliki
Julia
"Fam Jam"
Raphael Canlas
Prianca Harpal
Helpers along the way:
Håvard Wattum
Kristin & Stephen Sands
Thomas Athanasios
Julia Gagliardi
Thomas Ferguson
Steven Herrera
Our "local jeweler"
R. Weiss Jewelers - Bernards NJ.
Pete and Joanne at the annual Gala for American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA)
Athena
The goddess of wisdom and war. She is well known as the protector of Athens but was also the goddess of craftsmanship (how appropriate for us!).
Gaia
The ancestral mother of all life—the original Mother Earth. She was the deity behind the Oracle and oaths sworn in her name were considered the most binding of all. Gaia was also worshiped as the “sender of gifts” (again, how appropriate for us!).
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