Brilliant generations

Brahmfeld & Gutruf: Hamburg jewellers since 1743

Where does your passion for gemstones and diamonds originate?

B. Freisfeld: We’re jewelers in the third generation, so it’s something I was born with. I started collecting precious stones when I was only five. I was always the big collector in the family.

Was there a moment that made a particular impact on your life?

At an auction, I had the chance to examine the famous Wittelbach Blue and even hold it in my hand. This extraordinarily large blue diamond has a fascinating history. After the auction, it was recut. Although it lost several carat, it became many times more beautiful and more intense. That’s when I realized that jewelers create beauty. Every gemstone that we cut for a piece of jewelry becomes a treasure.

B&G was founded by Hinrich Brahmfeld in 1743. What led to your family taking over?

Our family was a founding member of the Collegium Cadoro, an association of leading jewelers in Germany, which included Brahmfeld & Gutruf, that formed in 1980 to promote jewelry culture. There was a good deal of cooperation between our two houses and we even sold some of the same models. That’s how we knew we’d be a good match and that our style of jewelry would sell here.

Jeweller's art at the highest level: handmade unique pieces and hand-picked gemstones

What values does Brahmfeld & Gutruf represent?

B&G have a very unique history. Few jewelers around the world have been in business for as long. The freedom that the city of Hamburg enjoyed as a member of the Hanseatic League also applied to commercial thinking. Many long-established jewelers elsewhere were duty-bound to serve either the crown or the church. Brahmfeld & Gutruf also supplied royal households, of course, but they were always free, answering only to themselves. We are purveyors to the people. And thanks to Hamburg’s appeal, this extends far beyond the boundaries of the city.

Who are your customers?

We accompany a person’s “jewelry career” over the course of a lifetime. Some people even come to us in the fifth generation, many of them members of Hamburg’s industrial families. Heavy gold pieces are very much soughtafter in times of uncertainty. Generally, German customers buy jewelry that is made to last.

"We always think in terms of collections. This isn’t something that’s done very often in Europe anymore." - Benjamin Freisfeld

How do you preserve tradition and at the same time take it forward into the future?

The future is built on heritage. We always think in terms of collections. This isn’t something that’s done very often in Europe anymore. A collection develops over time, new things are added, but always with the awareness that the older pieces are still part of it. This way, a customer who bought a necklace 20 years ago can find earrings that match but are also contemporary. It’s not just about creating new things, it’s about continuously improving on the old ones.

Your jewelry claims to be “astonishingly Hanseatic.” What does that mean?

Our pieces exhibit a certain Hanseatic severity, but astonish too, for instance, by exploding with color. We are the biggest jeweler for colored gemstones in the German-speaking world, and we pay great attention to how individual pieces interact. Our sense of harmony is something that will never leave us. As my sister once put it: “It’s a kind of down-to-earthness that can kick up a leg and break into a dance.”