Scandinavian Silver

Why is Scandinavian Silver so special?
Most of the pieces that most people are familiar with where designed over 60 years ago and yet they retain a contemporary, modern edge about them. They really have a level of sophistication that has proven the test of time.
Why has Scandinavian Silver remained so popular?
The simplicity of the style means that you can easily accessorise anything you wear with Scandinavian Silver pieces. You don’t need a special outfit to go with these pieces are they go with everything.
Do Australians have a special love for Scandinavian design?
Australians have always been known as early adopters and between the 1920s and the 1970s, Australia was the second largest market for Scandinavian design in the world. As a nation, we have been very much influenced by the lightness of the design as well as it’s organic aesthetic. But times have changed and unless you count out links to IKEA those days of Scandinavian importing have gone.
What inspired the Scandinavians with their design?
Scandinavian Silver has always had quite an optimistic feel. When some of the more recognised designers were working in the 1960s and 1970s there was very much a feeling that anything was possible. A number where influenced by the first images that were coming back of the Luna landings. There were a lot of textural pieces produced that were based on the typography of the moonscape. They used what was around them for inspiration; their own topography and their history as well.
Scandinavian designers seem quite prolific?
I once asked a Finish friend how a small city like Helsinki, with a population of only about 2 million, could be so active in terms of design. He said “You have to remember Chris, it’s 9 months of winter. We’re all locked indoors and we have to do something, so we all start doodling, tinkering and designing”. 
It’s hard for us to grasp but there are thousands of designers in Denmark and hundreds in Finland and Norway. Before globalisation design in these countries was quite an introspective movement.
Who are the main designers to look out for?
Obviously the first person that comes to mind is Georg Jensen but there are a number of other Scandinavian designers who in the world of collecting hold equal gravitas. Bjorn Weckstrom of Laponia, who rose to fame when his jewellery was used in the Star Wars films, has a very unusual and interesting design style. Hans Hanson, whose company was bought by Georg Jensen is another. Matti Hyvarinen is a Finish designer who created a lot of Luna landscape jewellery. Additionally, there are a number of enamel designers such as David Anderson of Norway and the Danish Volmer Bahner.
At antiques-art-design.com we are always on the look out for some of the more obscure designers as well. No matter whether they are well known or not, Scandinavian Silver always has a sense of quality about it.