Pages: 367-380 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp265367380

The paper examines the production of silver filigree jewelry in Kosovo and the role of this craft in the culture and traditions of Albanians in the Western Balkans. Metalworking, including jewelry making, was among the most highly developed occupations and was practiced primarily by men. Jewelry making retained its importance after industrialization began in the region in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The persistence of this tradition today may be explained by society’s desire to resist the complete globalization of its culture. As a case study, the author examines the Rakovica family, a Prishtina-based Albanian dynasty of artisans in which two generations are represented by women. The author seeks to identify the conditions and mechanisms that support the preservation of traditional jewelry-making practices and technologies, as well as the patterns through which innovations are incorporated into production. The value and priority accorded to such innovations are questioned by a segment of society that remains strongly committed to archaic materials, forms, and techniques. Drawing on the author’s fieldwork materials from 1990—2026, museum collections, including those of the Museum of Kosovo, and archival sources, including those of the Kosovo Archives in Pristina, the study concludes that, despite the spread of new industrial jewelry technologies since the beginning of the twentieth century, Kosovo Albanians have preserved an individualized approach to creating filigree jewelry, along with nearly the full range of objects produced during the Ottoman and earlier periods.

Keywords: filigree, silver, jewelers, Albanians of Kosovo, female dynasty

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