Armenians need to preserve the traditions of silversmithing.

This is what silversmith and member of the Armenian community of Tavriz Razmik Ordukhanian said in an interview with NEWS.am.

The master silversmiths of Tavriz inherited the craft from the gifted silversmiths who migrated from Van. However, over the past 30 years, the Armenian masters of Tavriz have either been moving to Tehran or emigrating from the country.

“I am the only eldest of the Armenian masters, but there are also some young silversmiths,” he added.

When Mr. Ordukhanian finished his studies and started working as a silversmith 40 years ago, there were 7-8 Armenian jewelry workshops in Tavriz, and there were 20 students in each of those workshops. “Now, there are about ten craftsmen in the whole city, and I am the only one with a workshop and a store. The others only have a workshop,” he said.

However, Tavriz has had and still has well-known Armenian jewelers, and one of them once made the crown for the wife of Shah Mohammad Reza Pehlevi.

Mr. Ordukhanian adds that purchasing power hasn’t been too high in the Iranian market over the past couple of years. Prices of products sharply increased four years ago (after the EU sanctions and decline of the Iranian real-ed.).

“True, silver prices also dropped a lot, but people also had less money. In 2012, one ounce of silver in the international stock markets cost $30-35 dollars, but now it costs $14-15 dollars. In the past, if a family had 500 dollars, no matter how much they spent, they would still have half of the money left. Now, they receive $1,500 dollars and barely make ends meet,” the silversmith says.

What help the masters are the purchases of gold and silver that are traditionally made in March and April, that is, the months of Novruz and Easter. In addition, according to Iranian custom, during marriage, a husband gives his wife a mirror with candlesticks as a gift.

The master dreams of starting a silversmithing business in Armenia in order to keep silversmithing active, but he is too old for that.

“If only I was 10-15 years younger…I don’t do anything now. My three students do the job in Tavriz. If I had the strength that I used to have, I would move and work here, and I wouldn’t care about the profit. The only thing that matters is to see Armenians continue to make silver items. My hands shake whenever I mold and chip, or even paint a pattern, but I still want to continue doing this,” Ordukhanian says.