Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen

Why it is renowned

Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen is known for jewellery drawn from nature: snakes, elephants, leaves and flowers cast in 18 carat gold and set with diamonds and coloured stones.¹²³ The British trade magazine Professional Jeweller wrote in 2010 that the house would show at BaselWorld and named Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom as its core markets.⁴ Beyond its two Copenhagen shops it runs its own stores in Stockholm, Munich and Sydney, and sells through some 200 jewellers around the world.¹⁵ The house has been Purveyor to the Royal Danish Court for decades.¹⁶

The story

Ole Lynggaard, born in 1936, trained as a goldsmith in Copenhagen and qualified in 1957. He then spent five years abroad, studying metal design in Schwäbisch Gmünd and seeing the workshops of Paris and New York before travelling on through Asia and the Middle East. Back in Denmark in 1963 he rented a workshop and office in Hellerup, north of Copenhagen, and started the company there.⁷

His daughter Charlotte Lynggaard joined as a goldsmith's apprentice in 1987 and launched her first collection, Bees & Flowers, in 1994; she is now creative director. His son Søren Lynggaard is CEO.⁸¹ The headquarters and workshop are still in the street where the first workshop stood.⁹ Forty goldsmiths there, with partners outside Copenhagen, cast and assemble every piece in 18 carat gold or sterling silver and finish the surfaces by hand, satinised, brushed, hammered or polished.¹⁰

What to know it by

• The Snakes collection²2013Ole LynggaardSerpents in 18 carat gold and diamonds, first sketched in Cairo
• The Lotus collection¹²Charlotte LynggaardStackable flower rings in five sizes, set with coloured stones
• The Leaves collection¹³Charlotte LynggaardLeaf jewellery that began with the Midnight Tiara
• The Elephant collection³2016Ole LynggaardElephant pendants in 18 carat gold and white diamonds