LOTR Jens Hansen Jewellers

Rings jeweller recognised





27 February 2004
By KAREN CLARK, Nelson Mail

As accolades continue to roll in for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, the Nelson company which created the ring for it is receiving accolades of its own.

Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith has just been nominated for an Imperial Mark, an international recognition of excellence.
Only a limited number of organisations can hold the prestigious mark at any one time. "

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Photo copyright MARTIN DE RUYTER/Nelson Mail

Rings jeweller recognised

27 February 2004

By KAREN CLARK As accolades continue to roll in for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, the Nelson company which created the ring for it is receiving accolades of its own.

Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith has just been nominated for an Imperial Mark, an international recognition of excellence.

Only a limited number of organisations can hold the prestigious mark at any one time.

It is awarded by the Imperial Mark Commission, based in the United States, after a rigorous selection process.

Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith business manager Halfdan Hansen said the company had been told it received three separate nominations for the ring design created for the movies.

While they were just nominations at this stage, the company was still flattered, considering current holders of the mark included companies such as Rolex, he said.

"That's fairly lofty company to be in. So even to be nominated is just great," he said.

The "One Ring", which features in the movies, was designed by the late Jens Hansen, father of Mr Hansen and his brother Thorkild who now run the family company.

It was chosen from 15 prototypes submitted to the Lord of the Rings art direction team.

Jens and Thorkild Hansen then made more than 40 different versions of it for the movies, ranging from small solid gold ones suitable for Hobbit fingers to the large 20cm-diameter gold-plated steel one which is seen spinning in the movies' prologues.

Halfdan Hansen said since the movies' release the company had also made hundreds of replica rings for Lord of the Rings fans worldwide, eager for authentic mementos.

He suspected that the Imperial Mark nominations may have come from some of these customers, he said.

The company had been asked to submit a ring replica to the commission as part of its nomination evaluation process. It was not clear when a decision would be made, he said.

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