The most complete information guide about Athens, Greece
Varieties
of Komboloi
Komboloi
beads come in many varieties from plastic to ceramic, bone, glass,
amber or other gemstones or coral. Religious komboloi may add
a saint's medal to the strand, often St. Christopher patron of
travelers. Some "secular" komboloi add a medal showing
an image from Greek culture; these are produced for tourists and
are regarded upon as not real Greek komboloi by the Greeks.
Amber is a traditional stone for komboloi. If reconstituted amber
(mastica), partially real, is used, it should say so. Often however
it does not and you pay the price of real amber. Same story with
imitation amber. As komboloi grow in popularity, other versions
are popping up. Long strands with big chunky beads are intended
as wall decorations. Small strands may end up hanging from rear
view mirrors.
Both of these uses count on an inherent protective quality in
komboloi. Some modern strands are made of beads shaped and marked
like dice, symbolizing good luck, particularly for gambling or
games of chance. Others are made of cobalt-blue eye beads, warding
off the evil eye.
Prices vary widely. Most komboloi in the souvenir shops of Plaka
and Monastiraki will cost a few Euro but, even if you bargain
on the price, you still pay twice its actual value as they are
made of plastic or are imitations even if it says differently.
Glass or acrylic beads are much more satisfying to handle. The
cord-strung beads are more pleasant to use then the ones on chain
as the fine chain can grate a bit against sensitive fingers or
catch on the edge of a sleeve. Specialty stores offer better quality
and a wider selection but you will hardly find any in the tourist
areas.
Jewelry shops will charge substantially more. Gold and silver
strands with semi-precious stones abounding. There's no upper
price limit so don’t be surprised to find komboloi priced
between 250 and 1000 Euro. As komboloi are growing in popularity,
they are actually being imported into Greece so not all worry
beads sold in Greece (especially in the tourist areas) are made
in Greece.
Our design studio is located in Greece and they only make unique
items. Therefore you will not find two komboloi that are the same.
On top, they are hand-made. No mass-production, no imitation,
no misrepresentation of materials used. That is why we don’t
mind informing you on our properties pages how you can see the
difference between what is real and what is not. As we never have
joined the “Let’s exploit tourists”-game, nor
will we ever, you will find our prices to be low for the high
quality and the hand-made unique products we make. We want you
to be happy with your purchase. Only happy costumers return.