Jens Hansen Jewellery Workshop

The workshop on Trafalgar Street is part jeweller, part minor Lord of the Rings pilgrimage site. You can look at the original prototype rings in a small display, watch jewellers at the bench through a glass partition, and — if you have the budget — order a replica One Ring in your size.

The rest of the studio's output is more conventional contemporary jewellery: silver and gold, often with a Scandinavian-restraint look that suits the founder's heritage. Jens Hansen himself died in 1999, but the workshop continues under family ownership and remains one of Nelson's quirkier small businesses.

things to do sight
A story
When Peter Jackson's production designers needed someone to forge the One Ring, they came to this small Nelson workshop. Danish-born goldsmith Jens Hansen made several versions; one was used in the films, others were sold as props or kept. The workshop still produces replicas to order — plain gold bands of varying weights, no engraving, exactly as on screen.