17 June 2026

75 Years of Freywille: How Vienna’s Fire Enamel Jewellery Is Made

Close-up of an artisan painting a colourful enamel jewellery design by hand during Freywille’s 75th anniversary event in Vienna.

Quick Read

• Vienna-based jewellery house Freywille marked its 75th anniversary with a presentation at Hotel Amauris Vienna on 9 June, including live demonstrations by enamel artisans.
• The event highlighted the complex handcraft behind fire enamel jewellery and introduced anniversary collections centred on the house's long-standing sphinx symbol.
• Alongside the new Glorious Sphinx and Imperial Sphinx designs, the presentation also featured recent artistic interpretations inspired by Frida Kahlo and Alphonse Mucha.
• Founded in 1951, Freywille has developed from a Viennese workshop into an international company with boutiques in Europe, Asia and beyond while continuing to manufacture in Vienna.

Watching enamel jewellery take shape

Guests gathering at Hotel Amauris Vienna on 9 June did not only see finished jewellery pieces but also part of the creative process behind them. During Freywille's 75th anniversary presentation, artisans demonstrated how decorative motifs are sketched by hand for hand-painting on enamel surfaces, allowing visitors to observe details that are normally hidden inside the workshop.

The live painting focused on the anniversary motif of the sphinx, a figure that has long been part of the company's visual identity. Fine brushes, carefully mixed pigments and repeated layers illustrated that producing enamel jewellery requires precision and patience rather than rapid industrial manufacturing.

Unlike painted fashion accessories, fire enamel jewellery undergoes repeated firing at high temperatures. Coloured enamel powders are applied in several stages and fused onto a metal base in a kiln, creating glossy surfaces known for their durability and depth of colour. The process demands repeated quality checks, as slight variations in temperature or application can influence the final appearance.

From a Viennese workshop to an international presence

Freywille was founded in Vienna in 1951 and has specialised in artistic fire enamel jewellery ever since. During the 1980s, the company established the colourful visual language that became closely associated with its collections, often drawing inspiration from painting, architecture and cultural history.

Today, production continues in Vienna while Freywille operates more than 60 company-owned boutiques worldwide. In addition to its own retail network, the brand reaches customers through selected partner jewellers, department stores and duty-free locations in markets across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and other regions. The company has become particularly known for limited collections that reinterpret artistic themes rather than reproduce artworks directly.

The sphinx returns for the anniversary collections

The central anniversary theme revisits the sphinx, which appears both in Freywille's logo and in earlier jewellery designs. In mythology, the sphinx combines elements of a lion and a human figure and has represented power, wisdom and guardianship across different ancient cultures. The image also invites comparisons with another famous winged lion: the Lion of Saint Mark, the historic symbol that became the emblem of Venice and still dominates the city's coat of arms.

For the 75th anniversary, Freywille introduced two capsule collections. Glorious Sphinx reinterprets the logo through colourful compositions in Burgundy and Night Blue, while Imperial Sphinx revisits a design first created for the company's 50th anniversary, presenting an illusionistic chain motif in Black, Burgundy and Ivory accented with 18-carat yellow gold.

Art history remains at the centre of the collections

The anniversary presentation also placed the new releases alongside collections inspired by well-known artists. Under Hommage à Frida Kahlo, the design ¡Viva la Vida! references the Mexican painter's visual universe through Freywille's own ornamental style. Works connected with Czech Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha appear in the collections Mucha Paris and Mucha Paris Pastel, translating characteristic decorative forms into enamel jewellery.

Rather than reproducing museum pieces, these collections demonstrate how motifs from art history can be adapted into wearable objects through colour, abstraction and handcrafted enamel techniques. Seen together with the anniversary sphinx designs and the live demonstrations in Vienna, they offered visitors insight into both the artistic references and the specialised manufacturing methods that continue to define Freywille's approach after 75 years.

Image: A Freywille artisan hand-paints an enamel jewellery motif during the company’s 75th anniversary presentation at Hotel Amauris Vienna on 9 June. © Freywille