We continued the story of my father and grandfather: The Ohrid pearls are our tradition

Today we would like to tell you the story of the Ohrid pearl, the story of Marija Fileva, whose family is behind the unique Ohrid pearls that are known around the world.

Marija says that the making of the Ohrid pearl is a family business and a tradition that she keeps alive today together with her brother Dimitrija, who are the fourth generation of masters who continue the story and the tradition.

For almost five years in a row, they are working on creating modern pieces of jewelry with the Ohrid pearls. They make various types of jewelry or in one word everything that puts Macedonia in the field of jewelry as a craft.

The scales of the fish “Plasic” that is found in the beautiful Ohrid Lake are used for making the Ohrid pearls and with a special technology that Marija says is a family secretthey obtain the desired result.

Foreign tourists are fascinated by the jewelry, the rich range of products and designs that are offered to them. They admire the desire of Marija and Dimitrija to continue this rich family tradition.

What makes them unique is the use of traditional techniques such as the filigree.

In addition to their work, the foreign tourists are delighted with the interior design of the entire space. The unique interior speaks more about them and their story.In their shop there is walnut and wood carving, through which they want to show the rich tradition in every field as people, as city and as country.

In their family there is no gender inequality such as the stereotypes that the craft should be passed exclusively to the boys in the family. In their workshop, all the children learned the craft from their father Pavel. On the other hand, their father learned the craft from his father Mihail and so on in a generational continuity from generation to generation.

Marija says that the pearls are their tradition, as well as the filigree that is introduced by their father. She also says that they are trying really hard to promote Ohrid and the pearl of the lake.Marija believes that many countries are already familiar with theOhrid pearl, as they already have a lot of orders that came from all over the world.

This indicates the fact that in Macedonia there are still people who know how to appreciate what is traditional. This is something that the Macedonians can be proud of.