Copenhagen-based jewellery designer Sophie Bille Brahe shares her unconventional approach to bridal bands
Sophie Bille Brahe has been making custom engagement rings and wedding bands for some time, but now the Danish jeweller has pooled her exquisite diamond designs into a single bridal collection. Created under the proviso that the two symbols of marriage should fit together perfectly if a woman is going to wear them for the rest of her life, Sophie’s rings come in couplets.
“They are like two lovers holding hands, or like a letter fitting into an envelope,” says the poetic jewellery maker, who is inspired by the work of her ancestor, the astronomer Tycho Brahe. Called “Chere” and “Cher”, referring to the affectionate names a couple might use to refer to one another when writing notes of endearment, the ring pairings are completely harmonious. “I thought about my dream diamond rings and fitted the wedding band to them,” she says of fashioning a home for her signature styles, including the Ensemble Escargot, Ensemble Croissant and Grand Ensemble Ocean, inside immaculate new diamond bands.
Photo: Sophie Bille Brahe.
This is not traditional bridal fare. Bille Brahe’s work is increasingly popular because she designs jewellery that “fits into [her] universe”. For the uninitiated, that’s the achingly cool epicentre of Copenhagen style. Note: style, not fashion. Everything Sophie turns her hand to has the minimalist spirit of Scandinavia embedded within it, while referencing the higher power of the celestial fascination shared by the Brahe family. “I work with elements that are super, super classic, but I twist it a little bit, so it’s what I like to wear,” she says of these modern tokens.
Despite her success, Brahe keenly feels the weight of creating a pair of rings that its owner will wear for the rest of their life. “We put our whole story into the pieces of jewellery we wear,” she shares. “If I lose a ring, I am so much more desperate than losing a pair of shoes. It means so much.” She still gets nervous when sending the designs off to her maker in Italy, whether it’s a wedding band for her dear friend Camille Charrière, or the emblems of love exchanged by her restaurateur brother Frederik Bille Brahe and his wife, the model Caroline Brasch Nielsen.
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Photo: Sophie Bille Brahe.
Brahe’s own forever ring came from her boyfriend before the birth of her children, and she likes how embedded it is within her very being. “The little scratches are special to me,” she shares. “Diamonds are rough and can handle a lot.” Hers are rings that are to be worn – truly worn – everyday, and designed to last a lifetime.
Originally published on British Vogue.