Design

Building a Holiday Tradition with Georg Jensen Christmas Ornaments

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Georg Jensen Christmas tree ornaments are a Danish Christmas tradition. Since 1984, the silversmith company has been making their beloved Christmas Collectibles series, with their Christmas mobile (ornament) as the centrepiece of each collection. The collectibles were meant to be a set of ten rolled out over a decade, but they became so popular after the first year in production that the company decided to continue producing them.

The ornaments are typically in traditional Christmas shapes, including angels, Christmas trees, reindeer, and presents, as well as more secular shapes like hearts, bells, and stars. The first ornament, rendered in brass and plated gold, was a bell with a ribbon at the top surrounded by a thin heart.

Over the decades, the release of the annual Christmas ornament has become its own celebration, with many Scandinavians (Danes in particular) waiting to purchase it as it comes out. For many families it is a yearly purchase that marks the beginning of the holiday season. Though perhaps not usual to see a Christmas tree only populated by Georg Jensen ornaments, it’s rare to see a Christmas tree in Scandinavia that doesn’t have a least a few – and many have the whole collection dotted around the tree.

 

 

Beautiful and intricate, the ornaments usually have a high level of detail that makes each one so special. They each capture the spirit of Christmas in different ways; evoking the soft jingle of bells, or the shiny, deep green leaves of holly.

Rather than telling a specific narrative, the collectibles instead represent a memory or a feeling. This is what makes them so popular: everyone connects to each annual ornament in their own way. Rather than the story being about the ornament itself, it becomes about that particular year for each person – what happened in your life, what do you want to remember?

The Christmas Collectibles come with a red or light blue hanging ribbon (red being the more traditional) that look beautiful against a Christmas tree. The ornaments, however, can also be hung in other ways; strung up across a window, or sitting on a nail over a door threshold. They’re so high quality and charming that they instantly elevate anywhere you put them.

 

 
 

Christmas Collectibles Designers

There have been an array of designers contributing to the Christmas Collectibles over the years. Artists working in mediums as wide-ranging as ceramics, goldsmithing, jewelry design, and fashion design have designed ornaments. The remarkable thing is that while each ornament is unique and expresses the designer’s particular skills, they are cohesive as a series and do not feel disjointed.

Notable Christmas Collectibles designers include Danish furniture and jewelry designer Nanna Ditzel, who also designed jewelry for Georg Jensen, Swedish product designer Monica Förster, Norwegian psaligrapher Karen Bit Vejle, and well-known Danish jewelry designer and goldsmith Eigil Jensen, who designed the first collectible.

Many of the designers have collaborated with Georg Jensen over the years, so their understanding of not only design but of the brand itself is strong. Take a look at the ornaments over the years, starting from 1984 to the present day.

The 2019 pieces were designed by Sanne Lund Traberg, who has worked with Georg Jensen previously. Her collectibles have a gorgeous art deco look to them and utilize simple shapes including the heart, bell, and bauble.

 

Georg Jensen Christmas Collectibles 1984 – present

 

1984
by EIGIL JENSEN

1985
by JEANNE GRUT

1986
by SVEND VESTERGAARD

1987
by FINN CLAUSEN

1988
by LENE MUNTHE

 

1989
by NANNA DITZEL

1990
DESIGN by ANNE MARIE TROLLE

1991
DESIGN by HANS HENRIK HANSEN

1992
DESIGN by JETTE FRÖLICH

1993
DESIGN by FLEMMING ESKILDSEN

 

1994
DESIGN JETTE FRÖLICH

1995
DESIGN by LENE MUNTHE

1996
DESIGN by FLEMMING ESKILDSEN

1997
DESIGN by FINN NÆSS-SCHMIDT

1998
DESIGN by FINN NÆSS-SCHMIDT

 

1999
DESIGN by NINA SCHRØDER

2000
DESIGN by REGITZE OVERGAARD

2001
DESIGN by REGITZE OVERGAARD

2002
DESIGN by FINN NÆSS-SCHMIDT

2003
DESIGN by ANNE-SOFI ROMME

 

2004
DESIGN LENE MUNTHE

2005
DESIGN by REGITZE OVERGAARD

2006
DESIGN by JOHN MORTENSEN

2007
DESIGN by OLE KORTSAU

2008
DESIGN by REGITZE OVERGAARD

 

2009
DESIGN by REGITZE OVERGAARD

2010
DESIGN LENE MUNTHE

2011
DESIGN FLEMMING ESKILDSEN

2012
DESIGN REBECCA UTH

2012
DESIGN REBECCCA UTH SPECIAL EDT

 

2013
DESIGN MALENE BIRGER

2014
DESIGN KAREN BIT VEJLE

2015
DESIGN LOUISE CAMPBELL

2016
DESIGN HELENA ROHNER

2017
DESIGN ALFREDO HÄBERLI

 

2018
DESIGN MONICA FÖRSTER

2019
DESIGN SANNE LUND TRABERG

2019
DESIGN NANNA DITZEL SPECIAL EDT

 

Want more Scadinavian Christmas decorations? Check out our full guide.

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Last edited

Rebecca Thandi Norman

Rebecca Thandi Norman is a co-founder and Editor-in-Chief at Scandinavia Standard.