Jens Hansen pendant design gifted to Duchess

Latest Jens Hansen pendant design gifted to Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall

The Mayor of Nelson Rachel Reese is to gift a Jens Hansen 18ct gold pendant to Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cornwall on Saturday 7th November.

Camilla, The Duchess of Cornwall is here with Prince Charles on an official royal visit to the region. The Golden Kiwi pendant by Jens Hansen will be gifted to The Duchess on the arrival of Their Royal Highnesses at the Church Steps, when the Mayor will meet them for the first time.

Halfdan Hansen from Jens Hansen jewellers said as soon as they heard about the visit he offered the soon-to-be-released pendant to the Mayor of Nelson as an official Nelson gift for The Duchess.

“It was forty years ago this year that my father, Jens, was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council travel grant for a residency at the Goldsmiths High School in Copenhagen, so we were thrilled when The Palace accepted the pendant as a gift for The Duchess,” Hansen said. “It is a very elegant design, so we believe it will suit her.

“The Golden Kiwi pendant has been nearly two years in the making from 2D concepts and 3D developments, to its final handcrafted form,” he says. “We were planning to launch it in December, but we have worked hard to move that launch forward to this week now that it will be given to The Duchess on Saturday!

“Our New Zealand and international customers often ask us for something distinctively Kiwi,” says Hansen. “Now, Jens himself was a famed New Zealand jeweller so any of his classic designs really fit the bill, but with The Golden Kiwi we decided to create an elegant and wearable piece of jewellery that specifically combines New Zealand’s national symbol with Jens’ sculptural style to create a timeless jewellery icon.”

“We handcrafted various versions and tested them on different people to make sure the necklace looked great and was easy to wear,” he says. “During this testing period we could see how well it suited everyone who tried it, regardless of what they were wearing or what they were doing, so someone said it was like “New Zealand’s little black dress of jewellery”, and that catch phrase has stuck. “We’ve also had fun playing on our Kiwi heritage here since The Golden Kiwi was the name of New Zealand’s national lottery from 1961 to 1989.”

Nelson Mayor Rachel Reese says the pendant is a beautiful depiction of the Kiwi.

“It is a very stylish, delicate piece of jewellery, and we are very pleased to gift it to The Duchess on behalf of Nelson City,” Reese says. “It’s fitting it is from one of our own Nelson icons, the Jens Hansen workshop.

ENDS

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