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Scan Magazine | Design Feature | Julie Sandlau
ethical. Julie’s completed designs are sent off to her own factory in Vietnam where a team of expert Danish and Vietnamese jewellers take over the hand-crafting of her creations, while a jeweller’s academy set up by Sandlau allows a new generation of craftsmen to learn the trade. Having fair and mutually beneficial relationships with employees is one of Sandlau’s top priorities, and so the Sandlau factory was created in collaboration with Danida, a development assistance programme with strict criteria controlled by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Sandlau jewellery is sold in a range of stores across the world, including large parts of Europe, the US and Japan. Items can also be bought online via her website, which is also in English. The autumn is all about Satin Silver rhodium jewellery and the new Treasure collection, with vintage-inspired jewellery styles, launches in November 2014. Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling and actresses such as Keira Knightley and Gwyneth Paltrow have all worn Sandlau jewellery.
Helping jewels and people to shine
The factory provides services such as a medical room, health care and free lunch. Three years ago, Julie was approached by Choice Foundation to create a charity bracelet to provide education and support for 100 orphans in Hanoi. Julie is the mother of three young children herself, and the project is very close to her heart. “They are innocent souls caught in the poverty cycle, and they have little chance of escaping it on their own,” she says, concluding: “I had to make a difference.” With her charity work and a new collection, Treasure, coming out in November, she is certainly kept on her toes.
Travelling in Asia in the early 2000s completely changed the life of Julie Sandlau, a young Danish law student. On her travels, Julie was introduced to the sparkling world of jewellery-making, and she fell in love with the process of transforming rough gems and bits of metal into beautiful, crisp, exquisite jewellery. Twelve years ago she set up her own business, which today employs over 500 people – and has seen everyone from Oprah Winfrey and Destiny’s Child to J.K. Rowling wear her pieces. By Louise Older Steffensen | Photos: Julie Sandlau
Julie Sandlau’s aim is simple: “We aim to create affordable luxury that all women of all ages can wear – jewellery that looks like a million dollars, but at reasonable prices.” Her jewellery ranges from the bold and simple to the delicate and feminine, but all share the same clean, minimalist, unmistakably Scandinavian essence. Every piece stems from Julie’s own imagination. She has singlehandedly thought up and hand-crafted the original design for each Sandlau piece – no mean feat with almost 300 items in the collections to
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date. Each necklace, ring and bracelet is carefully crafted from a 3D design to ensure that it is aesthetically pleasing from every angle. It is important for Julie that the production process is responsible and
Julie Sandlau, who is self-taught and a mother of three, has designed every piece in her collections herself.
All profits from Sandlau’s Breaking the Poverty Bracelet are spent on education and support for one hundred orphans in Hanoi.
For more information, please visit: www.juliesandlau.com