Designer
Björn Weckström
Planetoid Valleys as Princess Leia's necklace in the Star Wars movie brought Weckström to world fame
Jewelry artist and sculptor Björn Weckström is the internationally best-known Finnish jewelry designer. Together with Pekka Anttila, founder of Lapponia, he developed the brand's unique, scupturesque design language.
Planetoid Valleys and Darina's necklace designed by Weckström at the end of the 1960s are the most famous Finnish jewelry internationally. They became world-famous in 1977 after appearing in George Lucas' Star Wars movie as Princess Leia's jewelry.
Read from Kalevala Journal how the jewelry ended up in the Star Wars movie.
In 2005, Kalevala Koru bought Lapponia Jewelry. The iconic jewelry designed by Weckström is still made with skillful Finnish craftsmanship at the Kalevala Jewelry factory in Helsinki. Björn Weckström's six-decade long unique design legacy lives on and continues in the Kalevala Jewelry collection.
Read the article Björn Weckström - the creator of Lapponia from Kalevala Journal.
Planetoid Valleys and Princess Leia
Planetoid Valleys and Darina's bracelet designed by Björn Weckström for Lapponia at the end of the 1960s are the most famous Finnish jewelry internationally. They rose to world fame in 1977 as Princess Leia's jewelry in George Lucas' Star Wars movie.
Read how jewelry ended up in one of the world's most popular movies.
"A jewel is a miniature sculpture with a person in the background."
Björn Weckström has always been ahead of his time as an artist. His jewelry is like miniature sculptures, and their timeless design still fascinates. Weckström's mission is to promote the appreciation of jewelry design and raise it to the same status as modern sculpture.
In his silver jewelry Weckström describes Finland's snowy winter landscape and frozen lakes. It can be seen in the jewelry's unique dramatic dialogue between mirror-clear and matte silver. He boldly and without prejudice combines surprising materials such as acrylic with jewelry.
In the early 1960s, Weckström created a series of gold jewelry that was inspired by the gold nuggets of Lapland. Organic, sculptural shapes and the shimmer of matte gold are the trademark of Weckström's gold jewelry.
In the photo, the Aalto International collection styled with the Planetoid Valleys necklace at the Fashion in Helsinki 2023 fashion show.
See more images from the fashion show.
Photo: Guillaume Roujasis
Photo by Guillaume Roujas
"When I designed my first silver collection in the late 1960s, I wanted to capture Finland's winter landscape, its snowdrifts and frozen lake surfaces in silver. I also wanted to make the wearer of the jewelry part of some greater mystery."
Björn Weckström has always been ahead of his time as an artist. Her jewelry is like miniature sculptures, whose timeless design still delights today. Weckström's mission is to promote the appreciation of jewelry design: "Jewelry can have a function other than decoration, it can be a work of art."
Read the Björn Weckström - Creator of Lapland article from Kalevala Journal.
The iconic jewelry designed by Weckström is still made with skillful Finnish craftsmanship at the Kalevala Jewelry factory in Helsinki. The new classics that have returned to the collection are the golden Hippu and Jotos bracelets, which have been inspired by the rugged beauty of the northern nature and the dull glow of Lapland's gold nuggets.
Weckström's six-decade long unique design heritage lives and continues in the Kalevala Jewelry collection.
Björn Weckström's masterpieces
Space Silver
Planetoid Valleys and Darina's jewelry gained international fame in the 1970s when Princess Leia wore them in the final scene of George Lucas' first Star Wars movie. The jewelry was part of the Space Silver collection designed by Björn Weckström for Lapponia, launched in the 60s. Read the full story of how the jewelry ended up in the Star Wars movie.
Acrylic jewelry
These three jewelry models combine silver and acrylic in a fascinating way. The series includes the Petrified Lake ring made famous by Yoko Ono and the Otus No. 5 necklace from the early 1970s, as well as Sorgente earrings from the late 1980s. Acrylic jewelry has limited availability based on the number of original acrylic parts available.
Myyttien muotoilija. Taiteilijan omaelämäkerta.
Other sculptural gold and silver jewelry by Weckström
Tenochtitlan Bracelet 14K gold
