The Danish jeweller Sophie Bille Brahe is known for her delicate designs featuring diamonds and pearls set in inventive combinations that often seem to float above the body. Now she’s lending her diaphanous aesthetic to glass, working with craftspeople on the island of Murano, in Venice, to create a 10-piece collection of limited-edition vases launching Oct. 25. Spherical iridescent vases in pink and cream recall the freshwater pearls Bille Brahe uses in her jewellery designs, while others reference spiralling shell shapes, a motif she has returned to frequently, most memorably in a row of graduating diamonds for her Escargot ring.
Bille Brahe jokes that it took all her powers of diplomacy to coax the Venetian artisans into reviving the glazes and techniques she had come across while inspecting archival designs in the family-run Venice workshop where the pieces were ultimately made. “The artisans kept blowing these shapes that were super old-school Murano, which is lovely, but it’s just not me,” she recalls. It took her four days, for instance, to persuade a glassblower to try a specific shade of gumdrop pink. “It reminded me of when I trained as a goldsmith. There are rules, you have to follow the rules,” she says. “When they knew that I understood the rules, then they were ready to change.” Next on her list? “I would love to do chandeliers.” From $315, sophiebillebrahe.com.
