Serendipity is the best of muses. While walking in the center of Reykjavik I came across this beautiful jewelry store and studio space. It was a holiday in Iceland so the store was closed, but the window was intriguing enough to make me google these jewelry designers and email them to ask for a studio visit on the spot (like next day!). And, as serendipity goes, they said yes.

I’m talking about about Orri Finnbogason and Helga Gvuðrún Friðriksdóttir, the designer duo behind OrriFinn Jewels. Both are very laid back, passionate about their work and very happy to be following their passion as a way of living.

Helga and Orri working and a shot of the rings they were wearing

Orri started out when he was 19 years old, He wanted to follow jewelry as a career path but there weren’t many options in Iceland at the time. His sister was living in NYC so he headed there to try his luck in the jewelry district. He eventually became an apprentice to diamond setting. He worked there for 5 years only to return to Iceland to finish his goldsmith studies. After graduating he went back to NY and worked as a stone setter and goldsmith for other companies. He ended up coming back to Reykjavik and working for a jewelry company where he met Helga.

Helga, the other half of OrriFinn Jewels had another life before jewelry making. She worked in marketing and business before following her jewelry call. Helga also lived in NYC for a while working for singer Bjork and funny story is that Helga and Orri lived in NYC in the same neighborhood the same year and never crossed each other there. I guess destiny wanted them to meet back in Reykjavic.

A symbiotic relationship and similar tastes draw them together and they started their own company, a little bit on the side while still working for a third party. They developed a steady client base and grew very organically. In 2013 they made the decision to leave their jobs and go on their own, a courageous step to take under normal circumstances but even more courageous taking into account that Iceland almost went bankrupt during the 2008-2011 financial crisis and was slowly recovering. They started selling to stores and to private clients and has the business took off they decided to rent this studio/store space on a very cool street in downtown Reykjavik.

The store is a very curious, interesting space. The space is on the basement of the building with big windows to the street level. Instead of hiding the creation area where both work, Helga and Orri decided to leave the studio on open space and passersby can look inside and see Orri soldering or Helga assembling pieces. The whole area has great materials to start off: concrete polished floors, brick and basalt on the walls and wood on the ceiling. The mix of their wooden display cases with the beautiful photos on the walls, the bones and wooden trunks as windows displays complement the jewelry. Plus seeing Orri and Helga inside working away draws the curiosity of bystanders.

What attracted me to their jewelry is that they have a very distinctive style. In a time when everybody is doing the same dainty jewelry or using the same rose cut or raw diamonds, their jewelry is raw, edgy and of extreme craftsmanship. Their business concept is that their jewelry is unisex, and attracts both men and women. We laugh as Helga mentions that this was not always the case as men shied away from wearing jewels. It used to be that only rough sailors wanted to wear it but the hipster culture is changing tastes and perception amongst men.

When they decided to create a collection with braided metal they trained themselves by creating this awesome copper wire skull. The whole piece took more than 2 months to be finished and at times needed 3 to 4 hands to really pull the wire in the braids. It weights 3.5 kg the average weight of a human skull and it’s on display at their store. Out of this work of art came a beautiful collection of braided necklaces, rings and bracelets.

The awesome copper braided skull that took 2 months to create.

On one of their cases lies their most recent collection inspired in tools. The whole idea came while they were renovating a house and found an old pair scissors. They saw this as an inspirational sign and a collection was born. To the pair of scissors they added a razor, an axe, a key and a pen and you can see the original scissors and razor in the display case as well.

The razor and the scissors and their necklaces

When asked about their favorite spot on the studio Helga says it’s the table by the window and the record player. Orri says it’s from the sidewalk looking inside their space. Both agree that the objects that make their space theirs are the photos on the walls, the big metal beetles and of course, the skull. I would add the bones and the contrast of raw materials in their space that complements to perfection their pieces.

2 beetles of considerable size blew my mind away: one with pave on the wings (fabricated and pave set by Orri ) and another one with real casted beetles wings soldered together at incredible angles. Bear in mind that Orris doesn’t carve wax and everything you see is fabricated and casted for reproduction. Nowadays that’s hard to come by. Both amazing beetles were selected for an exhibition of Contemporary nordic design at the Grand Palais in Paris: magic language///game of whispers .

Both beetles were fabricated. On the top one, Orri set all of the stones. The bottom beetle is going to an exhibition in Paris. They casted real beetle wings and then fabricated the whole piece.

Orri’s favorite tool is a pair of soldering tweezers that he has since he was 19 years old and started doing jewelry. His funniest story also happened when he was starting out as a jeweler apprentice. He had a lot of wedding bands to engrave and on one of them he engraved the wrong groom’s name. Even worse (or funnier) without knowing he engraved the bride’s ex-boyfriend name on the ring. The mistake was caught in time and nobody got married with the wrong engraved wedding bands.

When asked about what they love and hate about making jewelry, both answered coming up with a new collection. Coming up with prototypes was the most fun part but it was also the most difficult one as you fine tune the design and adjust expectations to their client’s tastes. At the bench Orri said he loved to solder and hated polishing (and also stone setting has he spent so many years doing it).

On the jewelry they always wear, you can see Helga (top) and Orri (bottom) wearing their rings and braided necklaces and bracelets.

I had to leave cause I had a plane to catch, but I couldn’t be happier to have had the pleasure, opportunity and time to meet this couple, hear about their story and get a chance to shoot their space. Life is made of special moments and this was one of them. Serendipity.

I had to leave cause I had a plane to catch, but I couldn’t be happier to have had the pleasure, opportunity and time to meet this couple, hear about their story and get a chance to shoot their space. Life is made of special moments and this was one of them. Serendipity.

ORRI FINN DESIGN

Store & Studio: Orrifinn Skartgripa

                Skólavörðustíg 17a

                Reykjavik, Iceland

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