Designer and contemporary
Jewellers with a strong design signature, for rings that look like more than the classic solitaire. Think sculptural settings, tension mounts, coloured gold, and clean Scandinavian or German lines.
- 1
Niessing
4.7Storchengasse 21, Zurich
Niessing runs its own Zurich store at Storchengasse 21, in a building that goes back to the 13th century. The house made its name with the Spannring, first cut in 1979, where the diamond is held by the spring tension of the band alone and seems to hover with no claws or setting around it. If you want a ring that reads as modern rather than traditional, this is the original of the tension look that many others copied.
- 2
Georg Jensen
4.5Switzerland · since 1904
Georg Jensen has worked in the clean Danish idiom since 1904, and its rings carry that pared-back Scandinavian line rather than heavy ornament. The Fusion design is the one to know, a ring built from interlocking parts you can wear together or split apart, in white, yellow or rose gold. Since 2023 the house makes its new gold pieces from recycled 18ct gold, which helps if metal provenance matters to you.
- 3
Vhernier
4.5Geneva, Switzerland
Vhernier is a Milanese house whose pieces look more like small sculptures than conventional jewellery, with smooth curved volumes and almost no visible setting. Designs like Calla and Eclisse lean on abstract shape, and the workshop pairs 18k gold with materials you rarely see in bridal pieces, including titanium and ebony. The nearest boutique is in Geneva at 55 Rue du Rhone, so it's a Swiss option for someone after a contemporary, design-first ring.
- 4
Capolavoro
4.4Switzerland
Capolavoro is a family-run manufactory near Munich that handmakes its engagement rings in 18 carat rose, yellow or white gold, with platinum on request. Its best-known design is the True Love ring, where six small heart-shaped claws hold the centre diamond instead of the usual plain prongs, a quiet detail you only notice up close. The stones come GIA-certified and the gold is recycled, so the sourcing is documented.
- 5
Switzerland (Zigerli + Iff, Bern) · since 1963
Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen is a family house, started by Ole in 1963 and now run with his daughter Charlotte as designer. The look is organic and nature-led, soft leaf and pod shapes rather than the rigid geometry of a classic solitaire, so a ring here tends to feel hand-shaped. In Switzerland you can see the collection at Zigerli + Iff on Spitalgasse 14 in Bern.
- 6
Marco Bicego
4.3Meister, Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich
Marco Bicego works out of Vicenza in 18k gold, and the thing that sets it apart is the bulino, an old hand-engraving tool that leaves the gold with a fine brushed, almost silk finish. A single Lunaria leaf can take more than 500 hand movements, so each piece carries small irregularities you won't find in machine-made gold. In Zurich the brand is sold at Meister on the Bahnhofstrasse, a good fit for someone drawn to warm, worked gold over a bright white setting.
- 7
Bucherer, Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich
Tamara Comolli builds its jewellery around colour, with stones like tourmaline, aquamarine, tanzanite and sapphire grouped into named Color Stories. The Mikado line, slim stacking bands set with bright cabochon and faceted stones, is the signature, so this suits a couple who'd rather have a coloured-gem ring than a white diamond. In Zurich you'll find the brand at Bucherer on the Bahnhofstrasse.
- 8
Vienna (ships to Switzerland)
Schullin is a Viennese house on the Kohlmarkt whose pieces carry a strong architectural streak, partly because its original shop was designed by Hans Hollein. Collections like Givra and Monti Rose set bold coloured stones, including Paraiba tourmaline, in clean modern mounts. There's no Swiss shop, but the house ships worldwide with insured delivery, so a Zurich buyer can order direct if a Schullin design is the one.
- 9
Gellner
4.3Galli, Theaterstrasse 16, Zurich · since 1967
Gellner is a pearl-led house founded by Heinz and Tove Gellner in 1967 and now run by their son Jorg, working from its own manufactory. The design signature is contemporary settings that treat the pearl as the centrepiece, often paired with diamonds and coloured gold, rather than the safe single strand. In Zurich the brand is stocked at Galli on Theaterstrasse 16 by Bellevue, worth a look if you'd consider a pearl in place of a diamond.
- 10
IsabelleFa
4.3Wempe, Bahnhofstrasse, Zurich · since 1987
IsabelleFa grew out of a goldsmith's workshop founded in 1955 that specialised in hand-made gold chains, and the brand as it's known now started in 1987. The design language is quiet and sculptural, smooth shapes in 18 karat yellow, rose or white gold and 950 platinum, with the goldwork doing the talking rather than a big stone. In Switzerland the line is stocked at Wempe on the Bahnhofstrasse.
- 11
Fope
4.2Switzerland · since 1929
Fope has worked in Vicenza since 1929 and is known for one clever trick, the patented Flex'it system that hides tiny 18ct gold springs inside a woven gold mesh so the piece flexes and slips on without a clasp. That flexible Novecento mesh is the house signature, and it carries into the couple-rings side of the collection. It's a contemporary, all-gold direction for anyone who finds a plain solitaire too predictable.