The London-based designer creates exquisite nature-inspired pieces from beautiful gems.
Master goldsmith Ingo Henn is renowned for creating exceptional jewels, often inspired by nature and boasting extraordinarily rare gemstones. Most of the time, he uses the exquisite gems that find their way to his family’s business in Idar-Oberstein, Germany.
The London-based designer is passionate about creating sophisticated and stylish art jewelry. “The design usually starts with the stone, because it…is very special due to its color and shape,” says Henn, speaking at his studio in the city’s Hatton Garden diamond district.
“The design is created to work around the stone and to do it justice,” he continues. “You must never overpower the gemstone. Often people throw too much at a design, using lots of other stones. But this is risky. I like it when the stone takes center stage.”
Client connections
Henn received his goldsmith training in Idar-Oberstein, the hub of Germany’s gem-cutting trade. He has exhibited regularly at Goldsmiths’ Fair, a London showcase for remarkable jewelry designs. His clients, with whom he likes to build close relationships, tell him which fashions, influences and colors matter to them, and what they appreciate in life.
“You must allow the stone to speak to the client,” he believes. Sometimes, he and his co-designer will sketch several ideas around a gemstone. “People come to me for a one-of-a-kind collector’s stone to fall in love with,” says Henn, who has created pieces using tourmalines, pinkish-red imperial topaz, aquamarine, and many other gems.
‘The eye of an animal’
One of his iconic works is the Celestial Lion pendant, carved from Santa Maria aquamarine mined in Brazil decades ago. The stone, which has an incomparable bluish color, depicts the head of a lion with a lovely plume and a yellow sapphire eye. “The eye of an animal makes or breaks a piece,” Henn says. Another signature piece is Serenity, an enameled seahorse pendant carved in chalcedony and set with a blue sapphire eye.
Henn is proud of his creations and loves showing them off to clients, who often become his friends. “The biggest compliment is when people say, ‘Ingo, we can see that you and your team put your heart and soul into your work.’ That makes me very happy.”
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