Surprisingly, the foundations of the Danish brand, Georg Jensen began unconventionally. The founder of the company began as a sculptor and had trained in the art of pottery. An eye for detail, however, certainly sparked an interest in the artist and in 1904, Georg Jensen decided to open up his own silversmith’s company based in Copenhagen. Wholly modern Scandinavian designs have become an instantly recognisable aesthetic of a piece of Georg Jensen jewellery or homeware. The fact that each design looked so different to anything else on the market during this time brought Georg Jensen instant success and by the 1920s the company had grown with stores set up in London, Paris and New York.
It was not until the 1960s, however, that Georg Jensen watches entered the luxury market. The brand’s first timepieces were powered by Chopard movements, including the Vivianna bangle, which launched in 1969. This timepiece was a collaboration between the Danish silversmith and jewellery maker and the talented artist, Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe, who soon became an influential collaborator for the brand for years to come. Luxurious gold cases, bangle straps and mirror-like designs became a popular look and soon the brand was setting standards within the fashion industry with its innovative range of Georg Jensen watches.
Eight years after the first Georg Jenson Vivianna watch came the iconic Henning Koppel watch. Its remarkably clean and minimalist dial would feature a contemporary dial with iterations that included a practical GMT function, appealing to those who liked to travel frequently. Slim hands and indexes gave the timepieces a dainty, purist look on the wrist. The line extended not only to GMT models but to Grand Date variations that would become an ideal companion for wearing to the office or combining with business attire whilst on the go. These models, with reductionist dials, focussed on stripping timekeeping back to the basics and showing only the essential elements of the dial for a no nonsense and simplistic approach to timekeeping. An off-centre small second sub-dial located at 6 o’clock also donated more space to timekeeping on the main dial.
Georg Jensen later went on to collaborate with Nicolas Barth Nussbaumer, creating the Concave watch collection which featured two handed designs and delicate diamond decoration. Ensuring reliability, as always, was a quartz movement, anchored centrally inside the watch’s polished case. Today, our inspirational range of Georg Jensen watches here at C W Sellors includes popular lines such as the Koppel range with variations comprising GMT models, chronographs, simple three handed date models and two handed variations that feature a discreet small second sub dial at 6 o’clock. These timepieces come on different coloured leather bands and mesh bracelets. Our collection also offers a broad variety of the Danish company’s Vivianna watches, completed on the iconic bangle. Gold coloured hands are dressed against rich black dials while other iterations boast complete diamond set bezels and dials for a remarkably luxurious finish on the wrist. Other Georg Jensen Vivianna watches boast diamonds set along the bezel only, while some options feature a plain polished bezel combined with a matching stainless steel case.
