TINA ENGELL JEWELLERY

18K Gold Quadruple Cup Ring

The Danish city of Odense is known not only for its stunning old world architecture, like Saint Canute’s Cathedral, but also for being the residence of luminaries like tennis player Caroline Wozniacki. 

Denmark is also the ancestral home of featured jewelry designer Tina Engell.

JULIA SANDLAU

22K Gold Plated Swan Necklace with
Quartz and Cubic Zirconia

Though small the Danish city Ebeltoft offers intriguing attractions.  The world’s “first glass museum” is located here as well as the Kalo and Rosenholm castles. 

Perhaps one of the city’s most notable draws is the extravagant wooden houses, instead of hotels, that accommodate tourists. 

Denmark is also home to featured jewelry designer Julie Sandlau.

MARIA BLACK | MBJ

18K Gold Plated Crescent Earrings (Top Left);
18K Gold Plated Chaos Ring (Top Right);
Oxidized Sterling Silver Castro Ring (Bottom Left); and
Sterling Silver 1925 Necklace (Bottom Right)

At just over 100 years old, The Little Mermaid sculpture, located in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a popular tourist site.  

In fact, Copenhagen is ripe with a variety of places to see whether media related or scientific.  Denmark is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer Maria Black.

VIBE HARSLOF

Sterling Silver and Gold Fly Necklaces

Second in height to Paris’ Eiffel Tower, the Odin Tower, located in Denmark’s third largest city Odense, is one of many landmarks to see.  

In addition, Odense has been the launching ground for many renowned people including Hans Christian Andersen.  

Denmark is also home to featured jewelry designer Vibe Harslof.

ZARAH VOIGT

Isectorum Adventa Nomi Earrings
With Brass Scarab

An expansive collection of vintage motorcycles, automobiles and planes stand within the walls of museums located at Denmark’s Egeskov Castle.

The castle is a splendid example of 15^th century Renaissance architecture as well as lavish décor of wood works and tapestries.  Denmark is also home to featured jewelry designer Zarah Voigt.

GITTE DYRBERG and HENNING KERN | DYRBERG-KERN

Gold Toned Stainless Steel Star
Hoop Earrings with White Swarovski Crystals

Denmark’s chalk laden cliffs, Mons Klint, stand out amidst the greenery of marshes and woodlands.

The powdery white of shell remnants is offset by a picturesque lighthouse.  Denmark is also home to featured jewelry design team Gitte Dyrberg and Henning Kern.

ALIDRA ALIC

Regal and full of ancient history, Denmark’s Fredericksborg Palace is a 16th century fortress that currently serves as the Danish Museum of National History. Denmark is also the home of featured jewelry designer Alidra Alić.

NIELS ERIK FROM

Built by famed Danish sculptor Edvard Eriksen in 1918, the bronze statue of The Little Mermaid is Copenhagen, Denmark's most popular tourist attraction on par with New York's Statue of Liberty. Denmark was also the home of the late jewelry designer Niels Erik From.

Eighty-four years ago, renowned Danish jeweler Georg Jensen once compared the white luster of silver to the glow of the moon.

Appreciating the metal's challenging, and unyielding nature, he loved the idea of cultivating and conquering it. For this reason, he believed the metal better than gold possessing greater effect.

According to what I have read, many of the earliest Danish jewelers worked with sterling silver, using native stones like amber in their distinctive, minimalist jewelry.

A trained silversmith, in 1931, at age 23, From opened his first workshop. For the next 40 years, From's floral-inspired pieces from Denmark's Arts and Crafts period, and sculptural, modernist pieces of the 70s would become the company's signature styles.

The metalwork is gorgeously lithe and supple. There are obscure details of oxidation, carved out metal, surface etchings as well as the incorporation of lovely translucent and butterscotch amber.

The overall designs are masterful examples of From's ability to achieve unique detail and sinuous fluidity in simple forms.

His Off Center Amber Ring, for instance, is composed of a slightly patinated, cupped sterling silver disc with a smaller disc placed slightly off center against the larger one ultimately serving as the setting for a smooth, round amber stone.

There is something about the execution of his jewelry. There is something intangible I do not know how to articulate.

It is ultra simplistic yet at the same time visually striking. The combination of slightly voluptuous geometric structures and large, round and flat stones like onyx or carnelian is quietly magnetic.

Since his workshop was closed shortly after his death in 1986, From's legacy of limited, modernist jewelry items are distributed through Scandinavian Silver's website.
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Photo 1 (top right): Sterling Silver Carnelian Pendant
Photo 2 (bottom left): Sterling Silver Fish Brooches with Amethyst Cabochon

POUL HAVGAARD

Situated in the square of Denmark's Amalienborg Palace is an equestrian statue of King Frederich V. Built in the late 18th century the regal structure is an annual gathering place for Danes to celebrate the queen's birthday. Denmark is also home to featured jewelry designer Poul Havgaard.


Havgaard, a former blacksmith and mural painter, is the last of six designers I have featured that contribute exceptional items to Finnish brand Lapponia Jewelry (Lapponia).
In 2008, however, after 37 years with the company, Havgaard announced his retirement but his pieces remain a part of the company's iconic collections.

Natural, somewhat irregular forms and minimal gemstones characterize Lapponia's renowned aesthetic. Though forms are often accented with fissures, folds, crinkles, or concaves, the overall design is uniquely classic and timeless.

Havgaard's contributions maintain Lapponia's style while also highlighting his own distinctive design approach. Working with sterling silver--one of his favorite materials--he fashions clean, fluid items without etchings or many surface textures.
There is a bracelet and necklace, however, where portions of the metal appear segmented as if they were cut or sliced and then placed side-by-side creating one, uniform shape.

The distinguishing stylistic element that sets his jewelry apart from the other Lapponia artists is his use of round, faceted amber. A dollop of deep, orange-brown peeking from beneath a dome of molten silver, smooth facets linked to silver in a bracelet, or cupped in a ring setting.

Often referred to as "the gold of the North," amber resin, it turns out, is plentiful in Denmark as amber trees once populated the region. Due to the warm, humid climate millions of years ago, the trees literally sweated resin globs that were ultimately swept up by rivers and washed into the sea for a future unearthing.

If my memory serves me, thus far aside from Polish designer Marcin Zaremeski, I have not seen many designers incorporate amber into their pieces.
I think Havgaard's placement and arrangment of the amber is nicely done. He implements it in such a way where it seems like an extension or outgrowth of the silver. Its smooth contours complement the smoothn curvatures of the sterling silver.

"An essential principle of my design aesthetic is the creation of tension. I achieve this by letting two interesting forms communicate with each other," says the designer.
Havgaard continues jewelry making in his Denmark-based studio, as well as sculptures of iron and steel.
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Photo 1 (top right): Sterling Silver and Amber Fearless Pendant
Photo 2 (bottom left): Sterling Silver and Amber Dawn Bracelet

HANNE BERNSTEIN - DANISH JEWELRY DESIGN

The 18th century, baroque-style Fredonsborg Palace is the spring and autumn home of Denmark's Royal Family and one of its highlights is the expansive gardens. Denmark is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer Hanne Bernstein.

LENE VIBE DAHLGREN

With a plethora of plant species, tropical greenhouses, and a playground for the kids, Denmark's Aarhus Botanical Garden is a place for relaxation, education, and fun. Denmark is also home to featured jewelry designer Lene Vibe Dahlgren.

POUL WARMIND

Denmark is a country peppered with stunning architecture.

Among these splendid structures are Danish castles or slots including the Kronborg Slot, which Shakespeare used as his setting for Hamlet. Denmark is also the home of featured jewelry designer Poul Warmind.

LILIAN BUSCH

9-Karat Gold and Chinese Freshwater Pearl Necklace

Denmark's Botanical Garden and Museum is home to not only a diverse array of plant life but also the country's largest collection of botanical literature. Denmark is also the home of featured jewelry designer Lilian Busch.

SUSANNE FRIIS BJORNER

Today we visit Denmark's Botanical Garden and Natural History Museum, which houses over 23,000 plants from every corner of the world including the Galapagos Islands, Madagascar, Norway, and Denmark. Denmark is also the birthplace of featured jewelry designer Susanne Friis Bjorner.

KIM BUCK

Today we are standing in Denmark's Thy National Park.

The one-year-old scenic area, bordered by the Limfjord and the North Sea, is a panoramic stretch of land housing forests, heath, grasslands, sand dunes, and lakes.

Denmark is also home of featured jewelry designer Kim Buck .

TROELS LARSEN

Today we're in Copenhagen, Denmark at Botanisk Have, a peaceful garden with wild moor and heath, rare trees, orchids and cacti. Denmark is also the birthplace to featured jewelry designer Troels Larsen.