Sophie Bille Brahe’s elegant jewellery embodies the simple and pure ethos that is prominent in Scandinavian design. Using only pearls, diamonds and gold, she repeats motifs throughout her avant-garde collections to create a strong and recognisable brand DNA. The Royal College of Art alumni, whose label is stocked here at Dover Street Market, believes that jewellery can be great investments, especially because of the sentimental value there may be added to them.
What she wears every day
“The Peggy pearl necklace, which goes with everything.”
Favourite jewellery
“The Grand Ocean Ensemble ring, which I gifted myself after the birth of my daughter Beate.”
Sophie Bille Brahe
How she knew she wanted to be a goldsmith
“Since I was a girl, I’ve always liked to use my hands. I loved drawing, painting, building and creating. Eventually, I naturally started using my hands as a way of expressing myself.
I feel that creating jewellery combines the three core elements of craft, fashion and art, and this was something that I really connected with when I started designing. In that sense, I don’t feel I ever chose this career, but somehow it chose me.”
You won’t find fussy or distracting jewellery setting in Sophie Bille Brahe’s designs – unless it’s part of the story – as she prefers for the materials to shine.
Her design considerations
“The way I create jewellery is much more about taking away things than adding. I always think: How clean can you show a diamond? How simple can you show a pearl? I don’t feel a setting should ever take the focus away from the material, unless the setting is part of the story that I want to tell.”
Favourite commercial piece she designed in the past decade
“The Botticelli earrings shaped like grapes from my FW ’18 collection, with inspiration from Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera, where the Three Graces dance together, their hair flowing with pearls.”
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Her top gemstones
“I have always worked with high quality diamonds and pearls. To me, diamonds are the most captivating – they give such a magical feeling that I can’t explain and are always the thing that’s driven me as a jewellery designer. I love that pearls are an organic, raw material created naturally, and yet so beautiful without needing to be modified. They are classic and simple, but still have a fascinating and captivating look.”
She loves wearing the pieces by fellow Danish designer Cecilie Bahnsen.
Fave fashion brand
“Cecilie Bahnsen. I have admired Cecilie and her work since the first time I met her. To me, her talent is like a pearl – quite rare and magical. The things I love now are things that I have loved my whole life, like leopard print dresses, and the same Prada shoes I have had since I was 20, which has only recently been replaced with an almost identical pair.”
Her other passions
“I really love art and flowers, and find much inspiration in both.”
