Wempe

Gerhard Wempe started the German house in 1878, and it makes its own jewellery in the Wempe atelier in Schwaebisch Gmuend alongside selling the major watch brands. The bridal pieces sit across three lines: Crown BY KIM, Wempe 137, and Fine Jewelry One. Crown BY KIM is the solitaire side, with a setting that holds a single diamond on fine claws above a band set with smaller stones so the centre looks like it floats.

Wempe also cuts its own diamond, the Wempe Cut, with 137 facets, 80 more than a standard brilliant, and that stone is what the Wempe 137 line is built on. The BY KIM brand came out of work between Kim-Eva Wempe, former creative director Catherine Plouchard and the atelier goldsmiths. The Zurich shop is at Bahnhofstrasse 32, and the look tends to be quieter than the French and Italian houses nearby.