I’ve Got Finnfeelings, I’ve Got Finnfeelings

Want the story on the rings pictured in the banner above?

If you should find yourself in Helsinki after October 16, there’s a big exhibition of jewels called A Century of Finnish Jewellery at the Design Museo. If not, here are two examples from my collection.

Ring number one is by Elis Kauppi (1921-2004) started the Kupittaan Kulta jewelry workshop in Turku in 1945. At that time, the post-war shortage of precious and glass stones led to innovations in design and the use of semiprecious stones like spectrolite and rock crystal. Kauppi was extremely influential on the generation of gold- and silversmiths that followed. My baby has three chrysoprase balls set in little clamshells. To me, the ring looks like an angry clam lady, which makes me giggle. Also I paid five bucks for it — what a steal!

Ring number two is by Karl Laine and Hans Sten in 1974. The duo opened a workshop called Sten & Laine in Turku, Finland in 1969, which evolved into Finnfeelings. They worked collaborated until 1982, when Hans Sten continued working in Turku under the name “Sten Ky”, and Karl Laine was invited to join the Westerback Oy team alongside such renowned designers as Tapio Wirkkala and Liisa Vitali. Laine was named Goldsmith of the Year in 1988 by the The Finnish Goldsmith Association.

And here’s a advertisment that includes my ring!