BRIGITTE ADOLPH

ewellery runs in the veins of German designer and goldsmith Brigitte Adolph whose parents and grandparents were also jewellers.

After becoming a goldsmith and honing her craft in one of Europe’s leading workshops, Brigitte studied jewellery design at the renowned University of Pforzheim. Her studies took her from Germany to Denmark, Spain and Switzerland.  In 2005 Brigitte returned to Germany to set up her own atelier in Karlsruhe, Germany.

Her impressive lace collection originates from a lifelong passion for traditional handwork, especially embroidery and lace. Brigitte creates pieces that are new and innovative yet are still inspired by the past. The Nottingham Heritage Collection was created after an encounter with the English lacemaker Jayne Childs. Nottingham was the centre of mechanised lace manufacturing in the 19th and 20th centuries and many of Brigitte’s designs incorporate motifs inspired by Nottingham designs particularly from the Art Nouveau era. 

Brigitte takes inspiration from the lace of a variety of cultures. On honeymoon in Venice, she discovered a small shop selling intricate, handmade lace that later became a stimulus for her Platinum Guild Award winning Venezia necklace.

The fine filigree and uncompromisingly feminine aura of Brigitte’s work looks for all the world like finely woven lace, however, this is an illusion - these elaborately crafted pieces are not fine-spun fabric but are in fact solid gold and silver.