In the heart of Melbourne’s Collins Street, a family-owned jewellery business is celebrating 45 years of a story that began with Greek and Cypriot migration, hard work and a passion for traditional jewellery-making.
MDT DESIGN was founded by Nicholas Theochari in 1981 and has grown from a small jewellery manufacturing business, into one of Australia’s most awarded jewellery stores recognised for their quality handmade and unique designs.
Today, Nicholas works alongside his three children in the Melbourne boutique and workshop. Kosta, Ellen and Steven are continuing the family tradition built on quality, dedication and pride in their work that shines through everything MDT DESIGN does.
A family story rooted in Cyprus and Greece
Nicholas was born in Australia in 1960, around four years after his parents migrated from Cyprus in search of new opportunities for their growing family.
Much like many migrant families of that era, Nicholas’ parents worked long and hard to establish a new life in Australia while maintaining their cultural traditions and family values.
Nicholas later married an Australian-born woman whose parents had migrated from Greece around the same time. Together, they had and raised three children who would eventually become part of the family business.
Those Greek and Cypriot roots continue to be an important part of the Theochari family’s identity.
From Apprentice to Business Owner
Nicholas began his apprenticeship in jewellery in 1975, learning the skills of working precious metals by hand the traditional way.
In 1981, at an age of just 21, he established his own wholesale jewellery manufacturing business in Melbourne CBD.
Seven years later, in 1988, Nicholas opened the doors to his first retail jewellery store under the name Melbourne Diamond Traders located on Bourke Street.
In 1992, the business became MDT DESIGN, an abbreviation of Melbourne Diamond Traders with the added Design and had moved to Swanston Street, reflecting its growing focus on original custom jewellery design and manufacturing.
What began as one young starting jeweller’s ambition has developed into a Melbourne business spanning two generations.
The next generation joins the workshop
In 2003, Nicholas’ son Kosta followed in his father’s footsteps, beginning his own jewellery apprenticeship at MDT DESIGN.
Like his father, Kosta learnt the traditional methods of making jewellery by hand at the workbench. He subsequently qualified as a jeweller and then diamond grader, developing his expertise in jewellery design, manufacturing and gemstones.
In 2019, Kosta became a co-owner of MDT DESIGN and Managing Director of MDT DESIGN alongside his father, helping guide the business into its next chapter.
His brother Steven joined the business in 2010 and oversees much of its marketing, digital and online presence, while their sister Ellen joined in 2019, working in administration.
Today, all three children work alongside their father Nicholas. Each contributing different skills while maintaining the values on which the Melbourne business was founded.
Keeping traditional jewellery-making alive
One of MDT DESIGN’s defining characteristics is its commitment to traditionally handmade Melbourne jewellery.
On location behind its Collins Street boutique is a state-of-the-art jewellery workshop, where its jewellers continue to make engagement rings, wedding rings and fine jewellery using traditional techniques.
Rather than relying on computer-aided design (CAD), casting or outsourced manufacturing, MDT DESIGN creates its jewellery by working precious metals by hand.
It’s an approach that requires considerable skill, patience and experience, but in turn creates an heirloom piece of jewellery. All something the family believes is worth preserving.
For Nicholas and Kosta, the workbench represents more than a place of employment. It is where knowledge is passed from one generation to another, and where decades of experience continue to shape the jewellery, they create.
An award-winning family business
Over the years, the family’s dedication to unique jewellery designs has earned them national recognition.
Nicholas’ designs have received many major Australian jewellery awards dating from 1997, including in more recent times “Pente” in 2017 and “Xenya” in 2019, while the business continued its award-winning tradition with “Susta” in 2025.
These achievements reflect the family’s ongoing commitment to traditional handmade jewellery and original custom designs.
Yet despite the awards, recognition and success, MDT DESIGN remains a family business owned and operated by the Theochari’s with the help of their on-site dedicated designers and jewellers.
Celebrating 45 years in Melbourne
As MDT DESIGN celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2026, the Theochari family’s story is one of opportunity, determination and generational continuity.
From Nicholas’ small beginnings as a young apprentice jeweller, to having a boutique in the heart of Melbourne’s CBD, operated by two generations of the same family, the business represents the lasting contribution Greek and Cypriot families have made to Melbourne.
And after 45 years, the family’s commitment remains unchanged: creating beautiful jewellery entirely by hand, right here in Melbourne.
