If you visit the Vernisazh market on the weekends, you won’t find empty tables like you used to. Now Syrian-Armenians showcase clothes, jewels and silverware five days during the week.

Aleppo-Armenian silversmith Levon Koshgerian moved to Armenia three months ago and is now renting an apartment with his mother in Yerevan. The once successful silversmith doesn’t have the resources that he had in Aleppo, but he is content with the fact that he can at least earn a living and that, most importantly, he is living in peace. “When the chaos began in early 2011, our business went bad. We couldn’t even go to work in peace. People were walking on the street, and all of a sudden, we saw people die from a bombing and saw their body parts thrown here and there in just 20-30 seconds. However, we always hoped that things would get better. So, we waited until this year, but realized that living there was already dangerous. We barely saved ourselves from dying a couple of times.”

Levon has been crafting silver items since he was 15 or 16. The master who taught him that craft was Hovhannes Kalankarian, who was a well-known silversmith in Aleppo. For Kalankarian, crafting silver items was passed down from his ancestors, but when he saw how skillful Levon was, he suggested that he stay and work with him. Later, Levon started his own business.

In 2002, the Levon Koshgerian Gallery of silver jewels and silverware opened its doors in Aleppo and became one of the most favorite stores for not only Armenians, but also Arabs. It was also a store that was in the highest demand. Levon says according to an accepted procedure, an Arab girl’s parents must present 12 items of each silver item when marrying their daughter. “Every family would order about 8-10 kilograms of silver items when marrying their daughters,” says Levon, as reports ankakh.com.

Living in Armenia, Levon has noticed that there is no high demand for silverware, while Syrians highly appreciate it, especially handmade items. He is amazed at how people spend tremendous amounts of money to purchase items made from faience, which has no value. “That won’t be valuable in the future, but after using silver for five or six years, I can weigh it for you and you can earn money, if you’re in need of money. That worked in Aleppo. During this war, many people sold their silverware and took the money to survive in case of difficulties.”

The silversmith presents only a small part of his items on the small table at the Vernisazh market, but also keeps the photos of the large store that he had in Aleppo, showcasing a variety of silver plates, cups, candle sticks, forks, knives, pastry, fruit containers, trays, ashtrays, jewelry boxes and more. Unfortunately, his store has been robbed and destroyed.

Among the silversmith’s items showcased in Yerevan are works that one might not perceive at first sight. For instance, the silversmith sells sharp tools in the shape of scissors or knives. It turns out that the scissors are used for separating grape branches from each other. According to the silversmith, in Syria it was accepted to place scissors next to the grapes when serving them. As far as the items shaped like knives are concerned, it turns out that they are designed for opening an envelope. And so, there are many such interesting accessories, but they are not accepted by Armenians for the time being.

Women’s jewels are more in demand in Armenia, and they are sold at affordable prices as well. The main visitors of the Vernisazh market simply admire the silverware, which is costly not only because of its heavy weight, but also because of the quite intricate work that is done with hands. Citizens of Armenia can’t afford to pay, for example, AMD 500-600,000 for a piece of silverware.

In any case, Levon says he is content with the demand in the local market for the time being and is waiting for his work to be appreciated and to have permanent customers like he used to have in Syria.

Levon likes Armenia and wants to settle here. Unlike many people, he isn’t considering moving to Europe. Taking the opportunity, the Syrian-Armenian silversmith said he would like to express his gratitude to Armenia where people help him solve many issues. “For instance, if you want to go to Lebanon, you don’t have the right to stay there for more than a day. You can only go there in order to move to another country,” says Levon.

Levon says his only mistake was not having bought an apartment in Armenia on time so that he could at least have a home in the Homeland after losing everything that he had created in Syria for decades.