BrandFinnish
Kalevala Koru
1 active items
It started with a tea party. In 1937, Finland's First Lady Kaisa Kallio hosted a gathering where forty pieces of jewelry, modeled after ancient treasures in the National Museum of Finland, were presented to guests. Every single piece sold out. The woman behind it all was writer Elsa Heporauta, who had spent two years turning her vision into reality: bringing the ornamental heritage of Finland's Iron Age and Viking era back to life as wearable art.
Heporauta's idea had taken root during the centenary celebrations of the Kalevala, Finland's national epic, in 1935. She persuaded goldsmith and designer Germund Paaer to study the museum's archaeological collections and create working drawings for reproduction. Paaer selected forty models from the collections, and the pieces were cast in bronze and silver by Finnish craftsmen. The response was immediate. Within two years, demand had grown enough to justify a proper company, and Kalevala Koru Oy was formally established in 1941, owned by the nonprofit Kalevala Women's Association.
Paaer served as head designer until his death in 1950, producing over 300 jewelry designs during his tenure. Among them was the Moon Goddess pendant, inspired by Viking-era spiral motifs and named after a figure from the Kalevala epic who spins golden thread in the night sky. It remains one of the most sold pieces in the company's history. Other enduring designs include the Halikko necklace, based on finds from the Halikko region, and the St. John's Arms brooch, drawn from Iron Age decorative traditions.
The brand gained international attention early. In 1939, Heporauta traveled to the New York World's Fair carrying samples of the jewelry. During her visit to the United States, she delivered seventy-five lectures and met Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House. Roosevelt mentioned the encounter in her syndicated "My Day" column, giving Kalevala Koru exposure to an American audience.
Over the decades, the company expanded beyond historical reproductions. Later designers introduced contemporary collections while maintaining the connection to Finnish mythology and nature. Today, Kalevala Koru is the largest jewelry company in Finland and one of the biggest in the Nordic countries. All products are still manufactured in Finland, using gold, silver, and bronze. The parent organization, the Kalevala Women's Association, continues to fund Finnish cultural initiatives with proceeds from jewelry sales.
On the Nordic auction market, Kalevala Koru pieces appear regularly across Finnish and Swedish houses, with 124 items recorded in the Auctionist database. Stockholms Auktionsverk Helsinki and Bukowskis Helsinki handle the largest share, followed by Swedish regional houses like Karlstad Hammaro and Stadsauktion Sundsvall. Bronze pieces dominate the secondary market, with necklaces and pendants, brooches, and bracelets appearing most frequently. Top results include a "Paradis" jewelry set in bronze that sold for 2,600 EUR and multi-piece bronze lots that typically fetch between 1,500 and 2,000 SEK.