SUSTAINABLE SYMPOSIUM
CORALI
by Melania Musci
Trained as an architect, Caroline Sillesen is the founder of Danish jewellery brand Corali. Her work explores the intimate connection between form, material, and time, blending craftsmanship, sustainability, and poetic design.
Caroline, what are the origins of your passion for the art of jewellery?
My passion for jewellery grew from my background in architecture. While studying at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, I became captivated while working in the metal workshop—shaping small metal sculptures for my architectural models. Over time, these forms began to resemble jewelry, and the two disciplines intertwined. I have a deep fascination with the intimacy of objects—how they become extensions of the body, how they carry stories, accumulate traces of time, and exist in that quiet space between adornment and artifact. Jewellery has an inherent duality: it is both sculpture and something deeply personal, meant to be worn, touched, and lived with. Like architecture, it holds time within it, bearing witness to history while remaining present in daily life. My love for it lies in this intersection, where craftsmanship meets poetry, and where a small object can hold vast meaning.
Corali embodies sustainability and craftsmanship. Could you share the story of how this project began?
Corali began as a dialogue with metal, a need to shape it, to understand its weight, its resistance, its possibilities. As an architect, I am used to working closely with craftsmen, refining details, and being present where materials take form. It felt only natural to establish a local production, collaborating with a goldsmith I could visit daily, ensuring that every piece carried the imprint of thoughtful making. To design well, I had to let the craft pass through my own hands, learning its rhythms and intricacies. I believe that bringing something new into the world comes with responsibility. Our ambition is not to grow fast but to grow with intention, prioritizing sustainability, ethical and local production, supporting the Danish crafts heritage with recycled materials, and certified new resources. A small, but meaningful practice.
In 2022, Maria Hjortdal, an expert in business and sales, has joined your team. How crucial has it been for you, as an entrepreneur, to surround yourself with a trusted and competent team, including professionals like Maria?
Bringing Maria on board has been essential. Running two businesses, one of them (Corali) on my own, meant juggling multiple roles, often at the expense of long-term planning. Maria’s expertise in sales and structure has given the business a solid foundation, allowing it to grow more intentionally. A clever person recently told me that their creative studio is like a garden. It needs attention, nurture, and time to grow, slowly and naturally. On another note, the creative process is deeply personal, making it crucial to build a team that not only brings skills but also shares a sense of purpose. It’s about trust, generosity, and collaboration, creating a framework that supports both the work and the people behind it.
You aim at creating jewellery that withstands the test of time. How fundamental is this aspect in the design of your pieces?
It is the foundation. Time, embedded in the jewellery, is ultimately what defines its essence. Each piece holds layers of time, folding into one another, existing simultaneously. Whether a piece evokes the Baroque, the 1980s, or a time yet to come depends entirely on the context in which it is placed. But that is also the paradox: how subtle is the shift before we find ourselves in another
century?
Beyond timelessness, Corali is committed to minimising environmental impact. Could you describe the innovations you’ve implemented in the production process to achieve this goal?
Sustainability is not a goal to be achieved and completed, but it is an ongoing process of refinement. We constantly discover aspects of our business that can be optimized. But at the core, we have a set of fundamental values that guide us toward making the most sustainable choices. First, our production is highly local. Our workshop is just a few hundred meters from our office, so we walk back and forth daily. When we need external expertise (whether for a special diamond setting or engraving our hallmark) it all happens within cycling distance. We collaborate with three casting houses, two of which are within the city and the third just an hour outside Copenhagen. Secondly, we work exclusively with recycled precious metals, ensuring that no new metals are extracted from the earth. Third, we follow a ‘no stock, no waste’ principle. Nearly all our pieces are made to order, with only a small selection of bestsellers kept in stock. Nothing is produced without a purpose. If a piece remains unsold for a period of time after a return or a loan, we can deconstruct it by melting the metal and reusing both stones and materials in a new piece.
In this regard, do you believe young designers still encounter difficulties in initiating a sustainable production? What piece of advice would you give to a young Caroline at the outset of her project?
Yes, there are still challenges, but I believe many of them stem from the idea that sustainability is something absolute, something you either achieve or fail at. In reality, it’s a process, a series of conscious choices that accumulate over time. My advice would be to seek knowledge and ask for advice. Be curious, reach out, and don’t be afraid to share experiences. We should all be invested in building more sustainable businesses, and that means helping each other, whether it’s sharing trusted suppliers or simply passing on what we’ve learned along the way.
You founded Corali after a Master’s degree in Fine Art and Architecture. Do you find common elements between architectural design, in which you’re still involved, and jewellery creation?
Absolutely. Architecture and jewelry share a fundamental concern with form, materiality, and the relationship between objects and their surroundings, whether that be the body or a built space. Both practices require a balance between structure and expression, the rational and the poetic. I founded Corali while studying for my Master’s, and my approach to jewellery is deeply shaped by my architectural background. Both fields deal with longevity—how objects exist in time, carry meaning and mark moments. And while architecture operates at a much larger scale, the considerations are often similar: proportion, weight, balance and how a piece interacts with its environment. Even in the smallest piece of jewellery, these principles come into play.
By dedicating yourself to design in a comprehensive way you’re constantly in search of inspiration. Are there specific times or places that foster your concentration during the design phase?
I don’t chase inspiration, I think it comes when it’s ready. I collect fragments over time like sketches, photos from my analog camera, and notes that I store in a large notebook. Gradually, themes begin to take shape, not as concrete designs, but as something that starts to speak. When they do, I can respond, and my jewelry becomes the language through which I engage with them.
Was there a person in your career who significantly influenced your professional direction?
A person that’s held particular significance for me was with my parents’ neighbour, a talented architect. I interned with her at different stages of my education, always thinking I’d eventually work for her. But life took a different turn, and I ended up starting my own architectural office. Looking back, that early connection definitely influenced my decision to become an architect, which ultimately led me to the metal workshop and to falling in love with the material.
What do you expect the future to bring?
I see the future as an opportunity for continued growth and learning. I hope to deepen the relation between my work in architecture and jewelry, while exploring new materials and techniques along the way. Sustainability will always remain at the core, and I’d like to see it evolve across different aspects of Corali. Above all, I hope to find a deeper understanding of how to create meaningful work while remaining mindful of the world around us.
Credits: Pictures by Armin Terhani, Post-Production & Retouch by Direction Bureaux , Interview by Melania Musci