History

Folding, compressing, floating

Every piece of jewelry from Niessing tells a story. Many ideas and developments for new pieces of jewelry are closely related to the history of Niessing. The people at Niessing have created the character of the company. Their inventions, patents, solutions and decisions have made Niessing one of the leading providers of jewelry.

Founded in 1873 as a goldsmith workshop in Vreden, Niessing quickly developed into a renowned wedding ring producer by the start of the 20th century due to own inventions and new designs. The seamless wedding ring, the wedding ring engraving machine and a machine for changing ring sizes prepared the way for modern wedding ring manufacturing.
In the 1970s, Ursula Exner, the granddaughter of the founder, developed the new Niessing philosophy. She aimed clearly for contemporary design, founded the internal design department and started cooperation with external designers.

The results included the variable ring system Setario, the first jewelry lines in platinum, at the time a new jewelry metal in Germany, combined with pure gold and in 1979 the NIESSING Ring^®, developed for the company by artist Walter Wittek.

Kinetic jewelry, material deformations and color gold alloys were the topics of the 1980s. IRIS^®, the alloy with a gradual color shift from pure gold to silver, was created; gold alloys in the color spectrum red, reddish, green, pale green, sand gray and gray were introduced. During this time, the Niessing Coil was also developed as a contemporary alternative to the typical chain.
 
In 1993, Niessing brought forward its first watch in the form of the Radius 9. The cooperation with the porcelain artist Piet Stockmans yielded a series of artworks and jewelry from the fragile material.

With its wedding ring system, Niessing intelligently organized the area of classic wedding rings in 1997 according to various profiles, widths, alloys and surfaces. This allows the customer to individually assemble exactly the desired ring. Classic wedding rings enjoyed a new success.

Techniques such as braids and folds were transferred to jewelry in an aesthetically reduced fashion in the 1990s. Paper-thin gold or platinum strips were the material used for this.
 
In 1999, Niessing opened its first shop in Berlin. Transparency and openness were the fundamental principles. A clear architecture and an open, informatively arranged jewelry presentation also helped.
 
In 2001, the NIESSING Ring^® in the form developed by Walter Wittek was protected against imitations.

In the following years, additional Niessing shops were opened in Europe, Asia and the USA.