Charlotte Lynggaard
MARC HOM
Jewellery must tell a story – one connected to the person wearing it, or to the piece itself. Often the piece already tells a story before it even gets to the wearer, carefully constructed and woven into the piece by the jeweller.
Danish jeweller Charlotte Lynggaard’s story involves drawing inspiration from life’s contrasts and contradictions to create pieces that can be worn formally and informally, and she has recruited the help of stunning international supermodel Helena Christensen to help tell it.
Charlotte, as head designer of her family’s jewellery house, Ole Lynggaard, took an interest in design and the family business early in life.
“My father, Ole, founded the company back in 1963 when he returned from his travels in Europe and set up a small workshop in Denmark. I was always passionate about design from a young age and thought I would grow up to be a fashion designer. Then I was drawn more into jewellery design and translating this into wearing jewellery in different ways similar to fashion.”
Ole broke ground in 1979 when he designed a new clasp locking system.
“My father’s interest in flexible fine jewellery was apparent after he developed the first revolutionary interchangeable clasp which could be worn on various necklaces.” This has allowed Charlotte to be creative with her own designs.
Naturally beautiful: Helena Christensen is the brand ambassador for Ole Lynggaard’s Lotus collection.
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“His workshop provided the perfect space to develop ideas based on handcrafted, flexible and personalised fine jewellery.”
Charlotte recently signed Christensen as the new face (or should we say hands, ears and neck) of Ole Lynggaard.
“We feel Helena Christensen matches our thoughts and our values. She is a mature woman with power and style, as naturally beautiful as she is sexy. Add to this the fact that her personal style embodies the theme of our new collections – bohemian with a splash of luxury, kept casual with an eye for quality, design and detail,” Charlotte says.
“We have just launched two new exciting collections called Dew Drops and Lotus. The handcrafted ranges were on the drawing board for several years which I am very pleased to see come to life. The collections are based on customising your own individual look and most importantly can be worn with our existing collections such as on our leather bracelets and together with the Sweet Drops.”
Ole Lynggaard was appointed jeweller to the Danish royal court in 2008 and designed the beautiful Midnight Tiara. It was made for the tiara exhibition at the Amalienborg Royal Palace Museum in 2009, showing historical tiaras belonging to the royal family, together with tiaras of more recent designs.
There’s something about Princess Mary: Designed by Charlotte Lynggaard, the Midnight Tiara took almost 300 hours to make and features white and rose gold, diamonds, moonstone and black silver.
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Charlotte spent more than 300 hours with the team of highly skilled goldsmiths. Worn by Crown Princess Mary, the delicate hand-engraved leaves and thin branches are made of 18-carat rose and white gold, as well as black, oxidised silver. Thirty-one beautifully shaped flower buds are set with more than 1300 sparkling diamonds together with specially cut moonstones in different sizes, creating lustres of light and shade, like a starry, moonlit sky at midnight.
But remaining creative and at the forefront of Scandinavian design must be difficult for a mother of three at the head of an international brand. So where does Charlotte get the time to actually be inspired and design?
“I always carry my little sketchbook. I like to go to an exciting place for a few days and give myself the luxury to be inspired and incorporate this peace and inspiration into my designs. It could be a trip with my husband and children, in a boutique hotel with atmosphere or close to the water, being able to walk or cycle to exciting museums or restaurants,” she says.
Consumers have high expectations of Scandinavian design, an aspect of the job Charlotte explains is not taken lightly.
“We only use materials – such as gemstones and 18-carat gold – of the highest quality. What is quite unique for our brand is combining raw materials such as soft calfskin leather in our bracelets and necklaces. The leather transforms the look completely when combined with the delicate Sweet Drops and Sweet Spot charms. The finish is more edgy and modern while still maintaining the essence of timelessness and sophistication,” Charlotte says.
Sweet Drops calfskin leather bracelet with Dew Drops.
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“For instance, with my latest collection, Lotus, the design and craftsmanship was incredibly challenging, and part of this involved searching worldwide to find the right gemstones from hundreds of stones which have been excluded if they did not meet our high quality requirements.”
With Christensen as their brand ambassador – a perfect fit in Lynggaard’s eyes as she reflects “the different moods of the collections, demonstrating the versatility of the jewellery” – and counting Crown Princess Mary as a fan, Ole Lynggaard looks set to continue to set the standard of international contemporary jewellery design.
» www.olelynggaard.com
Yellow-gold leaf pendant and lotus amethyst pendants.
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