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.¹ Beyond its two Copenhagen shops it runs its own stores in Stockholm, Munich and Sydney, and sells through some 200 jewellers around the world.¹² The house has been Purveyor to the Royal Danish Court for decades.¹

The Leaves collection grew out of the Midnight Tiara, which Charlotte Lynggaard made for an exhibition at Amalienborg Palace and which Queen Mary of Denmark later wore.³

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 working in 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.⁴

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.⁵¹ The headquarters and workshop are still in the street where the first workshop stood.⁶ 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.⁷

What to know it by

• The Snakes collection2013Ole LynggaardSerpents in 18 carat gold and diamonds, first sketched in Cairo
• The Lotus collectionCharlotte LynggaardStackable flower rings in five sizes, set with coloured stones
• The Leaves collectionCharlotte LynggaardLeaf jewellery that began with the Midnight Tiara
• The Elephant collection2016Ole LynggaardElephant pendants in 18 carat gold and white diamonds