As the grand-daughter of the founder, Charlotte Lynggaard has managed to turn her family owned jewelry brand into a true success story born in Coppenhagen. She sweet and calm, embodies tenderness and serenity; all of which can be seen throughout all of the jewelry collections she draws herself.
Who are you Charlotte?
Navigating into a the family business, there is no differentiation between the business woman and the woman that I am. They are embedded. As a mother, thankfully my children look at me understanding what I do. For them it’s normal to see their mother working. But yet, I love to cook and decorate the house. Flower and gardening are my things. What is difficult in being a designer is that your brain is constantly working. I get lost in my mind no matter what … even on a chair on the beach!
Considering the expansion of fine jewelry brands on the market – how do you position your brand?
When I started doing jewelry 30 years ago, it was not normal to be a goldsmith woman. There was not that much competition. I actually liked that ! People are now more aware about jewelry. They care more. The company is 53 years-old and when I joined the family business, Ole Lyngaard was already big in Scandinavia. I was brought up knowing that we were famous. In the last years we have been expanding the brand not very much looking at what is out there. We are in our own world where we make everything in house from decorating to advertising or designing our catalogues. We get some inspiration from different women all around the world. Our goal is to try to be better and better each day paying attention to handcrafting since each piece has so much in it. We put a lot of energy in sourcing stones as we try to always be one step ahead in order to make jewelry that will last for a long time.
What made you famous and why?
Our grand-parents started the business out of ambition after the traveling the world. I believe that our family story combined to the way we do things have built our reputation. In every ad or communication we incorporate a lot of story-telling which is what customers like. Also, they can see a lot of hard-work put into our jewelry pieces. I also believe that success is about being lucky in meeting the right people at the right time.
How hard is it to work / run a family business?
You have to trust each other. We all want to go in the same direction – sharing the same passion – what’s good is that we get to see each other more often. Otherwise we would not be able to. We fight and laugh a lot – that’s what makes you grow especially working with 140 people …
Could you consider a high jewelry collection?
We have already worked on special orders and big pieces but I need to make things to wear daily. High jewelry pieces are the kind of pieces that you can only wear for rare occasions.
What piece of advice would you give to a young designer?
Trust in what you are doing and don’t try to go too fast. Do your best. Today everything goes too fast without going deep into things. By doing so, they are missing the handcraft and design which is sad in a way. If you ask me, this has to do with the rise of social media. It’s very useful but also very dangerous and hard to find a balance.
How do you measure success?
I think it’s when you are satisfied about yourself even though you are never really ! I also believe that it when it gives you energy specially coming from people when they stop you in the street saying that they really like what you do. It makes me feel very proud.
Who is the Ole Lynggaard woman? How do you define style?
She does not exist. Our client is a person who likes quality and timeless things. I have seen jewelry on very different women. The way they style it is different. A simple piece of jewelry transforms itself depending on the woman who wears it. What is important is not the piece itself but it’s how you put it together.
Does being close to the Danish Royal Court has helped you in a some way?
Of course it has and you can only get the stamp of the Royal Family if you have been working for them for over 25 years as a combination of many other things.
Do you wear jewelry that is not yours?
No… never … I would be feeling like not myself.
