Vintage Pendant for Anniversary Collection

Image Courtesy Jens Hansen Contemporary Gold & Silversmith To celebrate the anniversary of the late Jens Hansen’s birthday this month, the team at Nelson-based Jens Hansen Contemporary Gold & Silversmith are adding a vintage Four Square pendant to the Jens Hansen 40th Anniversary Collection. Jens Hansen set up his jewellery studio in Nelson in 1968 and word of his unique style soon spread. Gregarious and outspoken, he created edgy, experimental work that brought him worldwide recognition. His classically-designed jewellery is celebrated in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa’s permanent collection; and in literature showcasing New Zealand art and design. Jen’s legacy includes his reputation as one of the founders of New Zealand contemporary jewellery design; and his celebrity as the designer of the Lord of the Rings One Ring. He received a Queen Elizabethh II Arts Council grant to work at the Goldsmiths High School in Copenhagen in 1975; he was a founding member of Details – the jewellers and Bone & Stone Carvers of New Zealand; and he helped establish Nelson Polytechnic jewellery classes. Jens sadly passed away in 1999 but his two sons are keeping the legacy alive. Thorkild Hansen was an apprentice jewellery designer in his teens and is now chief jeweller at the company’s Selwyn Place workshop; and Halfdan Hansen is business manager. Halfdan says the newly released Four Square pendant represents the very distinctive style Jens loved in the 1960s and 1970s. “Jens’ architectural influences were sometimes displayed through his asymmetrical shapes and geometric designs,” he says. “This silver pendant is quite a statement and surprisingly delicate for its size. When it was made in the early 1970s, it took the public by surprise as it was so different to the conservative jewellery available here at the time.” Today the Four Square pendant retails for NZ$999 and you can see the entire 40th Anniversary Collection at the Jens Hansen workshop in Nelson, or by visiting www.jenshansen.com It’s worth it – the rings in particular are stunning!

Gothic Beauty

Warwick House Images Supplied

I’ve often talked about my passion for old homesteads, so regular readers can imagine how excited I was about a visit to Nelson’s Warwick House. This monstrous three-storied home was built in 1854 and was extended in the 1870s to include three towers, a spiral staircase and a magnificent ballroom overlooking Nelson city. The large wing containing two of the towers and many rooms has since been demolished but the third tower and the ballroom are still intact. One corner of the ballroom in fact, acts as the breakfast room for paying guests each morning. Nick and Jenny Ferrier are the seventh owners. They bought six or seven years ago on their return from Hong Kong, keen to establish a new lifestyle that would keep them in touch with the international community. They’ve spent all the years since renovating the home (which had been turned into flats prior to their arrival), and confess that it’s still a work in progress. They currently have five guest rooms; and their own wing – a huge 8-bedroomed house in its own right – while part of the original house, is completely separate from guest quarters. Once a venue for glamorous entertaining events for leading merchants and politicians, Warwick House was used as a gentlemen’s boarding house in the early 1890s. It’s been home to seven families and Nick and Jenny have met a number of people who grew up there. They’ve also gathered a lovely photographic timeline of the mansion, which is on display in the second-level of the Tower Room. (The lowest level is a wine cellar; the top level part of one of the guest suites). In the process of renovating they have discovered boarded up rooms, original boarded up ceilings and all manner of other treats. “It’s been a labour of love and lots of hard work; but definitely worth it,” says Nick. “We had spent a lot of time living overseas and it’s great that we now enjoy the quieter lifestyle of Nelson without losing touch with people from all over the world.” www.warwickhouse.co.nz

Staying in Style

Consulate Apartments, Nelson, NZ. Photos courtesy Stirling Images. Nov. 2008.

Call me spoilt if you will but I do love my job as a travel guide author and journalist – and the fact that I get to stay in New Zealand’s finest accommodation. I recently had the good fortune to be holed up here, at Nelson’s classy Consulate Apartments. They’re just across the grassy hill that’s home to Nelson Cathedral and therefore, right in the centre of town. Not that I ever care about what’s happening in the outside world once I am ensconced in a place like this. They’ve got three BIG elegant apartments, each with a different character – the largest even has a grand piano if you feel like tinkling the ivories – and best of all, they feel just like home. I know everyone says that but in this case, it’s true. www.consulateapartments.co.nz