Copenhagen · founded 1904 by Georg Jensen
Vintage Georg Jensen
Georg Jensen opened his silversmithy in Copenhagen in 1904 and the house became the defining name in Danish silver. Its jewelry is usually sterling, often unset or set with amber, moonstone or hardstone, and it is identified by a maker's mark together with a design number that ties the piece to a specific model and designer.
The house
Jensen trained as a sculptor before turning to silver, which is why the early work has a modelled, organic quality: leaves, grapes, birds and blossoms in hammered silver.
From the 1930s onward the house worked with independent designers whose names travel with the pieces, among them Harald Nielsen, Nanna Ditzel and Henning Koppel, whose fluid mid-century forms are now the most collected.
Because designs stayed in production for decades, the design number identifies the model while the maker's mark form helps place roughly when a given example was made.
How to recognize the work
- Sterling silver worked sculpturally, with hammered or softly modelled surfaces
- Danish modernist forms from the 1950s and 1960s that read as sculpture on the body
- Amber, moonstone, lapis and other hardstones rather than diamonds
- Clean, heavy construction with well finished catches and hinges
What the marks mean
- A Georg Jensen maker's mark, historically in a beaded oval or dotted frame
- A design number that identifies the model
- Sterling or 925 S, and Denmark on export pieces
- On many pieces the designer's own mark alongside the house mark
Buy carefully
Danish silver of this style was made by many good workshops, and unsigned or differently signed pieces are sometimes offered as Jensen. We photograph the maker's mark and the design number, and we do not attribute on style alone.
Common questions
What does the design number on Georg Jensen jewelry mean?
It identifies the model rather than the individual piece. The same number can appear on examples made decades apart, so the number tells you what the design is, not when your example was made.
Who was Henning Koppel?
A Danish designer who worked with the house from the 1940s and whose fluid, biomorphic silver forms are among the most collected mid-century Jensen designs.
Are you an authorized dealer?
No. We are an independent estate jeweler and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by the house. We buy signed pieces from European estates, examine and photograph the signature, numbers and metal marks, and describe exactly what we can and cannot establish.
Shop the pieces
Signed Georg Jensen in stock
Estate pieces signed Georg Jensen, photographed mark and all. Each one is a single example.
Nothing matching this is available right now. Every piece is a single example and sells once, so this changes weekly. Browse everything in stock or ask our buyers to look for it.