Jens Hansen Store Team
Jewellers at Work Today
Our Nelson studio workshop is host to a number of jewellery makers and jewellery experts, who are committed to creating and selling unique, custom, quality jewellery, and continuing the Jens Hansen legacy.
Team Members
Claire Day
Erin Brady
Halfdan Hansen
Halfdan is Jens Hansen's elder son, and the current business general manager and creative director. He is committed to continuing his father's legacy, particularly when it comes to the Movie Ring* that his father Jens and brother Thorkild worked on for the Peter Jackson movies.
Lee Barker
Lee is one of our talented studio Sales Associates. He is passionate about all that sparkles and making individuals dreams come true.
Maniana Heywood
Miriam Hansen
Natasha Wearing
Natasha is our office administrator extraordinaire working tirelessly behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly.
Ray Mitchell
Ray is a very experienced independent jeweller who consults to our team and first began collaborating with Jens Hansen in 1989. Ray says that the jewellery Jens created, including the Movie Ring*, was "opulent, attention grabbing, generous, demanding and very precious."
Rebecca Charleton
Rebecca is in charge of our international shipping and internet order fulfilment. She makes sure we get your order right and shipped as quickly as possible anywhere in the world.
Simon Colegate
Simon joined the team in 2016, after moving from South Africa to New Zealand. He is an experienced Jeweller and Diamond Setter, and is trade certified by the Mining Qualifications Authority of South Africa. Simon and our other master jeweller Zane are cousins and trained together.
Supriya Singh
Supriya is our Nelson store manager. She can answer questions about any of the Jens Hansen collections, including the Movie Rings*.
Zane Colegate
Zane joined the team in 2012, after moving from South Africa to New Zealand with his wife. He is an experienced Jeweller, CAD Designer and Diamond Setter, and is trade certified by the Mining Qualifications Authority of South Africa. He was awarded an Honourable Mention in the Professional Category of the 2011 PlatAfrica awards. Zane and our other master jeweller Simon are cousins and trained together.
More about Jens Hansen and Nelson
The Jens Hansen Gold and Silversmith Workshop was borne from the passion of creativity and experimentation. The first Nelson workshop, set up in 1968, was in the front room of the family home at 8 Alton Street. This quickly became a centre for the local arts community, where Jens' talent, energy, enthusiasm, and outspoken personality drew people in from all over the world. From here Jens trained, worked with and influenced many of New Zealand's leading contemporary jewellers.
Jens had an unusually broad training in gold and silversmithing in both New Zealand and Europe. From these traditional practices he combined design elements from other disciplines such as sculpture, architecture and art. He found new ways of working outside traditional structures.
Even after Jens’ death in 1999, his passion, pioneering outlook and creativity continues to infiltrate the vibrant Nelson arts scene. The workshop’s influence still resonates in New Zealand’s creative industries, as Jens Hansen’s spirit and teaching live on through the workshop’s current craftsmen.
Honesty, originality, creativity, quality and the ability to converse with the creator continue to set Jens Hansen - The Ringmaker above all others. In this day and age it's pleasing to know that these traits are still honoured and deeply engrained in every piece created in our workshop.
You can read more about Jens at The Prow - Nelson's Local History (Link opens in new window)
BONUS: Want to know what the Jens Hansen team thinks are the best things to do in Nelson? Click here to learn what you might be missing.
Jens Hansen 14 July 1940 - 10 August 1999
| 1940 | Born Gram, Denmark. |
| 1952 | Came to New Zealand from Odense, Denmark. |
| 1955 | Traditional apprenticeship at Sweeney's Jewellers Auckland & painting classes with Garth Tapper. |
| 1960 | Solo exhibition of silverware at New Vision Gallery Auckland. |
| 1962 | Left New Zealand to study in Europe. |
| 1962-1965 | Worked at Michelsen's, the Court Jewellers, & Borups in Copenhagen. Studied at School of Applied Arts & Industrial design, Copenhagen. |
| 1964 | Participated in exhibition at Guild Hall, Copenhagen. |
| 1965 | Returned to New Zealand. Worked at A. Kohn Jeweller, Auckland & attended sculpture workshop with Jim Allen. |
| 1966 | Started own business in Glen Eden, then in Titirangi, Auckland. |
| 1968 | Moved to Nelson & opened Jens Hansen Gold & Silversmith at 8 Alton Street. |
| 1970 | Moved workshop to Hardy Street. |
| 1970s-1980s | Ran summer school classes in sculpture and painting. |
| 1973 | Moved workshop to 320 Trafalgar Square. |
| 1975-1976 | Received Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council grant to work at Goldsmiths High School, Copenhagen. Studied painting, Copenhagen. |
| 1977 | Returned to New Zealand. |
| 1980s | With Gavin Hitchings established jewellery classes at Nelson Polytechnic. |
| 1980s | Advisor to Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand. |
| 1983 | Founding member Details, the Jewellers, Bone & Stone Carvers of New Zealand. |
| 1990, 1995 | Artist in Residence, Otago Polytechnic, Dunedin. |
| 1968-1998 | Exhibited in over 30 solo exhibitions. Participated in a large number of group exhibitions in New Zealand, Australia & Europe. |
| 1999 | Commissioned to make the 'One Ring' for The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Sons Thorkild and Halfdan continue the legacy of Jens Hansen Contemporary Gold & Silversmith. |
| 2004 | The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa selects key Jens Hansen jewellery works for the Permanent Collection. |
| 2008 | 40th Anniversary Collection Released |
| 2011 | Made The One Ring for The Hobbit movies |
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