Poul Havgaard — Danish Jewelry Designer
Poul Havgaard is a Danish jewelry designer known for his uncompromising, sculptural approach to wearable art. From the early 1960s, he gained international recognition for his unique jewelry and sculptures forged in iron — works that challenged traditional ideas of jewelry and placed craftsmanship and form at the center.
Working from his workshop in Faaborg, Denmark, Poul Havgaard created organic forms with a strong artistic identity. His iron jewelry was unlike anything seen before and was widely featured in international newspapers and exhibitions.
Unique iron Ring
A Pioneering Design Language
Throughout his career, Poul Havgaard developed a timeless and instantly recognizable design language rooted in Scandinavian modernism. His work attracted the attention of French fashion designer Pierre Cardin, who invited him to create exclusive collections of iron belt buckles for Cardin in Paris.
In 1971, Poul Havgaard became one of four head designers at the Finnish jewelry company Lapponia Jewelry. His first collection, 3D Silver, was bold, uncompromising, and sculptural — a radical statement at the time. Over the next four decades, he designed iconic pieces in sterling silver for Lapponia Jewelry, while also continuing to create iron sculptures and jewelry in his own workshop until his passing in 2011.
Savage Rose – Ring – 3D Silver
Recognition and Museum Representation
Poul Havgaard’s work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in major museum collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and Designmuseum Danmark in Copenhagen.
In 2010, the necklace Pretty Earth from the 3D Silver collection was selected as Jewelry of the Year by Europa Nostra, the European organization dedicated to cultural heritage.
In 2015, the complete 3D Silver collection was donated to Designmuseum Danmark.
Continuing the Legacy
In 2018, Poul Havgaard’s daughter, Marie Havgaard, took responsibility for continuing her father’s work and producing selected designs from his archive.
From her base in Barcelona, Marie continues the Poul Havgaard brand with deep respect for the original models, materials, and production methods. The jewelry is still cast in Finland ensuring the same high standards of craftsmanship and quality.
Unique iron buckles
Handmade leather bag with iron sculpture
Unique leather and iron necklace
Her Majesty The Queen – a young Margrethe II with a unique belt buckle
Entire Life – Necklace – Lapponia Jewelry
Visible – Necklace – Lapponia Jewelry
In the workshop in Faaborg
Separation, Condideration and Full Bodied. Bronze sculptures
In the workshop in Faaborg
Excerpt by Thomas Winding
from the book Sculptural Form Poul Havgaard.
Poul Havgaard is not only a sensuous aesthetic. He is drawn by contradictions, paradoxes. Through the rough and the smooth, the withdrawing and the things that stands out, the round and the edged, he makes new forms that threaten to burst the outer shell. What he is showing us are volcanic eruptions within square centimeters. He can shape a drop, so we understand that it can cause the world’s oceans to overflow.
Poul Havgaard is son of a blacksmith and he is also trained as a blacksmith himself. But he went a long detour, which turned out to be the right and most straight way.
Before he started forging.
He had a true passion for educating and understanding. He had an apprenticeship as a painter, worked as a church painter, theater painter, been a designer for Rörstrand’s Ceramic Factory and made ceramics in his own workshop.
But at one point (around 1960) he began to work with iron again. Made jewelry and belts and became world famous by delivering several collections to Pierre Cardin.
From 1971 he designed jewelry for Lapponia Jewelry, Finland, and exhibited at museums and galleries across Europe.
Poul Havgaard lives in the small provincial town of Faaborg, which must also be the place on the globe where most women wear his belts and jewelry ..
He is at once a local patriot and a world citizen. And in this way, he unites the big world with the small one. Just like in his art.