Georg Jensen boasts over a century of craftsmanship and expertise in silversmithing. The journey in which founder, Georg Jensen took to becoming an artist in his work, however, was not all that straightforward since he began as a sculptor. His works were well received during the first few years of his career, yet he ventured into pottery and partnered up with Christian Peterson to collaborate on some designs. In 1904 he decided to open up his own Copenhagen-based Silversmiths company where his creations soon started attracting attention.
Georg Jensen’s unique approach to silversmithing brought him instant success. His wholly modern Scandinavian designs differed vastly from many designs on the market during the time. Some designs depicted nature, others were inspired by a piece of art and worked into a modern piece of jewellery. The fact that his designs were hand crafted meant that no mass production of any one piece could devalue his contemporary designs. By the 1920s Georg Jensen had set up stores all across the world including New York, London and Paris.
The brand’s watches first entered the picture in the 1960s. The Vivianna Bangle was developed in 1969 with a hand winding Chopard movement at its centre. Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe collaborated with the Danish watchmaker and silversmith to create a mix of highly reflective mirror dials, bangle straps, gold hands and cases, and diamond embellished displays.
The Danish designer, Henning Koppel’s first watch launched just 8 years after the Vivianna watch. Since then, Georg Jensen has taken inspiration from the original Koppel line to continue with a newer generation of Koppel watches. The minimalist Danish designs feature a timeless dial with incredibly slim central minute and hour hands and a date Feature. The GMT Koppel watches from Georg Jensen embody that same purist expression with a contemporary dial featuring an additional 24 hour track at 6 o’clock, balanced by a power reserve at 12 o’clock. The first Georg Jensen Kopple Grand Date launched in 2015 with an enamel dial and an 18ct gold case. The watch’s reductionist dial featured a large date display in a double window residing at 12 o’clock, balanced by an off centre small seconds sub dial and a month calendar in the form of an Arabic numeral wheel for denoting the months in the year.
Georg Jensen’s line of Concave watches for men and women were created in collaboration with Nicolas Barth Nussbaumer. Simple two handed dials meet with diamond decoration and a reliable quartz movement to ensure round the clock reliability. These timepieces were intended by Georg Jensen to communicate the Danish company’s rich heritage in developing art inspired designs.
Today, Georg Jensen continues to communicate its contemporary philosophy through a wide range of watches, jewellery pieces, homeware and giftware. From Henning Koppel to Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe. Georg Jensen watches have attracted some of the world’s most elaborate and revered artists, who have collaborated with the Danish designer to create breath taking timepieces with a difference. Contemporary by nature but with a strong message behind each model, Georg Jensen watches will continue to adorn the wrists of art lovers, collectors of automatic or quartz watches, and those with a preference for contemporary Scandinavian design.
