Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

A Danish silver and aventurine quartz bracelet designed by Karl Gustav Hansen for Hans Hansen, circa 1970, the polished quartz domes set within broad cylindrical collars with circular link connectors between, signed ‘Hans Hansen’, ‘Denmark’, ‘925S’, London import mark for 1970, sponsor’s mark for Danish Silver Designs Ltd., length 19cm. £400-£600

Hans Hansen (1884-1940) opened a goldsmith shop and smithy in Kolding, Denmark about 1906. By the 1920s, Hansen was producing his own line based on his and H.F. Gross' designs. Initially the company produced flatware. Once that was successful, they started designing and making jewellery. The first pieces were designed by Hansen himself around 1931 but the production of jewellery really began in earnest in 1932 with a collection designed by Hansen's son Karl Gustav Hansen, (born 1914). After his father’s death in 1940, at just 56 years of age, Karl Gustav took over the Hans Hansen silversmithy. In 1992 the firm joined with the Georg Jensen company.