Early days
In 1991 a young Nikolaos Theodoridis, stepping into the family legacy, graduated proudly and with honours from the Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp as a goldsmith and jewellery designer.
Fresh out of school and filled with passion and fresh designs he decides in 1994 to open a jewellery boutique and atelier in the Stoofstraat near the Antwerp Quay in the historic centre. He built this space with his wife and business partner Bernadette Van Den Steen, a master Ceramics artist. And so their journey began, for him as Ntheo and for her as Bvds.
Their starting concept was to have a creative space so that younger artists from different disciplines could have a platform and a chance to expose their works and collaborate with others. The showroom then became a cultural hub where our duo held organized events, expositions and receptions.
Vision and the brand through the years
1994 also marked the year of Nikolaos’ first release as being NTD, which simultaneously stood for his initials and the term Nice - Trendy - Different. He came up with this acronym to release his collections tailored to a wider public.
Subsequently, he came up with the blood collection. As the name might suggest, the inspiration came from Blood cells. Because when he found an assortment of glass pebbles with a range of red and other colours running through it, these reminded him of Blood cells, which in turn started the turning the creative gears. Also, the pieces were all made out of silver, as it was an accessible material that was not very popular in the sector at that time.
A couple of years later another idea for a collection was born. Named enjoy your days more. The vision here was to make jewellery a mundane thing that everyone could afford. It was a way for normal, middle-class people to express themselves and get rid of the stigma that treasure is only for the rich and elite. Again made with affordable silver, the team chose to set the bold pendants, rings and earrings with enamel, bringing the price down more and making the jewels more accessible to any type of budget. With these 14 successful pieces Theodoridis broke onto the market and gained himself some renown.
As they had hit the ground running with their last collection, there was no reason to slow down. The company we now know and have came to be. Under NTD there have been many different limited productions over the years; structures and back to the future to name a few.
Ntheo itself became the main point for high fashion art pieces, which then became our Timeless collection, these were wearable masterworks that could, as expressed, pass the test of time and remain one’s treasure through life.
Innovation, authenticity and accessibility are some of the drives of our brand. Beyond ready-made pieces, our designer can also make custom unique creations. In this process the customer and their dreams are prioritized, Nikolaos wants his clients to be able to express themselves through his mediums, which are precious metals, shining pearls and colourful gemstones. To him every piece is a message and the craft of gold-smithing and jewellery is a language that he loves speaking.
2000s and contemporary ideals
After a while, the brand’s status started gaining some traction, as well as private customers, our people started talking the diamond language to other designers and jewellers. Consequently the ultimate recognition came when we participated in the De Beers Diamonds-international Awards in March of ’99 in Paris.
This giant award show consisted out of over 2,530 jewellers and designers from across the globe. Ntheo made a bold necklace, set with a total of 21 carats of diamonds as a symbol for the shift to the 21st century. This design hit the last judging round before the finals along with 186 other Jewellers and Designers. When the HRD organized an expo at the Antwerp Diamond Museum to honour the 5 Finalists of the competition, our piece was also displayed.
Modern ideals
Today, our philosophy remains to have a brand that takes pride in the fact that challenging ourselves technically and breaking new boundaries by combining traditional and our own new methods, where we cross modernity and ancient technique by mixing our contemporary ideas with original craftsmanship and precision.
Everyday, Ntheo tries to deliver quality jewellery for the individual who is looking for something different than the ordinary.
Our personal passion and truly custom design are two of the pillars that Ntheo Jewelry insists on perpetuating.