A Copenhagen celebration of craftsmanship and jewellery art
The city of jewellery 2026
The festival brings together over 30 exhibitions from 1 to 3 October
32
Exhibitions
235
Goldsmiths, silversmiths, jewellery artists and designers
4th
time since 2015
From 1 to 3 October 2026, Copenhagen will be transformed into an exhibition space for jewellery art, design and craftsmanship when The City of Jewellery festival invites visitors to explore the shops and workshops of goldsmiths, silversmiths and jewellery artists all over the city.
The City of Jewellery festival celebrates and disseminates the infinite diversity of jewellery art, the handmade and the unique, the traditional and the experimental.
The general public will be invited to experience a truly historical trade at close hand, with over 30 exhibitions, open workshops, lectures and guided tours, under the theme "Transition."
Heritage and crafts traditions
Denmark is known for its design heritage and craft traditions. But many don't know that Denmark also has one of the oldest craft guilds in the world: the almost 600-year-old Copenhagen Goldsmiths' Guild, which keeps the many professional facets of the goldsmith and silversmith trade honed and relevant.
This is the fourth edition of The City of Jewellery, and the guild and its members will present a range of solo and group exhibitions, featuring 235 Danish and international exhibitors.
The theme this year explores transitions in an array of forms: between materials, between tradition and renewal, between the body, identity and society.
Craftsmanship and artistic expression
"Exhibitors can interpret the theme both specifically and symbolically, in the meeting of materials, in the construction details, in the functionality and expression of the jewellery, but also as personal or societal transformation," says Patricia Tind, Master of the Guild, Copenhagen Goldsmiths' Guild.
She is proud that this centuries-old craft is still in constant development and with such rich variety. Today, many goldsmiths and jewellery artists not only work with well-designed custom jewellery, but also with jewellery as an artistic form of expression.
"The City of Jewellery is a wide-ranging manifestation of our trade, where the goldsmith and silversmith crafts unfold for the general public all over Copenhagen. In an era of mass production and fast fashion, the members of the guild represent the opposite: excellent craftsmanship and personal jewellery," says Patricia Tind.
Guided tour in English
Vesterbro with guide and jewellery artist
Helen Clara Hemsley
Friday 2 October, 4:00-6:00 PM
Meeting point: BUKKEHAVE-KAUFMANN, Oehlenschlægersgade 13, 1663 Copenhagen V
The tour begins at BUKKEHAVE-KAUFMANN on Oehlenschlægersgade, where the exhibition Transformation brings together goldsmiths Christine Bukkehave and Alice Kaufmann and glass artist Maj-Britt Zelmer Olsen. Here, transitions are explored as phenomena that are simultaneously physical, natural, and existential. The exhibition revolves around growth, cycles, and life stages, including menopause as an often-overlooked transformation. The jewellery and glass art draw inspiration from organic forms, structures, and surfaces that highlight the capacity of both the body and nature to constantly change.
The tour continues to the second stop in the exhibition Shadows and Jewellery at Designer Zoo, where goldsmith Anne Manna exhibits jewellery inspired by the interplay of light and shadow. Anne Manna says about her solo exhibition: "Like a child trying to catch their shadow, I am fascinated by the shadows found in the urban landscape - scaffolding, fences, bicycles, trees, people."
The tour concludes with a glimpse into the future of jewellery. The exhibition mindSHIFT is the result of a collaboration between jewellery students from Design School Kolding, Copenhagen Business Academy, and the Glasgow School of Art, centered on the theme of "transition." The works range from the craft-based to the conceptual, offering a picture of how the next generation of jewellery designers will approach their craft.
Approx. 17-minute walk. Access to some exhibition venues is via stairs. Limited number of spots.
Events and information
Exhibitions and events during The City of Jewellery will take place in goldsmith workshops, jewellery shops, galleries, and familiar and new exhibition venues in a number of the city's neighbourhoods, with a single detour to Malmö.
Here on www.smykkernesby.dk you can find programme and exhibition information, as well as search for exhibitions in the various neighbourhoods so you can plan your route through The City of Jewellery.
Tickets to guided tours (one tour in English) with 2-4 exhibitions each can be purchased via Politiken Plus.
Free admission to all exhibitions.
All exhibitions are open Thursday and Friday 11 am-6 pm and Saturday 11 am-4 pm.
Copenhagen Goldsmiths' Guild
Copenhagen Goldsmiths' Guild can trace its roots back to 1429, and is one of the oldest craft guilds in the world, founded under a "guild charter" conferred by King Erik of Pomerania and Queen Filippa.
At that time, the guild's tasks included assessing the quality of the products of the trade, pricing and training new craftsmen.
Today, the guild is made up of classically trained goldsmiths and silversmiths, jewellery artists from the now closed Institute of Precious Metals and newly trained accessory designers, all with a high level of professionalism and skill.
The guild aims to, among other things, spread knowledge of the craft, and through a wide range of activities, exhibitions and awards provides ongoing insight into the many facets of the trade.
Contact
Copenhagen Goldsmiths' Guild
Gammel Kongevej 86C, 1850 Frederiksberg
Phone: +45 93 97 72 05 (Monday and Tuesday, 10 am-3 pm)
Photos: Frederikke Brostrup, Henrik Vering and the exhibitors
