Griegst x Leif Sigersen, Copenhagen, February 2025. Leif is wearing his own Svirrevip, Big Fan, Spiral Ring No. 2, Spiral Ring No. 4, Spiral Ring No. 6, Spiral Bracelet No. 1, and Spiral Earstick No. 3.
On a day in February, we met with Leif Sigersen in his atelier in the centre of Copenhagen. Botany and art collide in Leif’s flower compositions. The Danish flower artist occupies a world entirely of his own making and imagination, where the ephemeral and the eternal grow intertwined in floral pieces charged with storytelling and meaning.
Leif Sigersen speaks of his creative life with a deep sense of gratitude. “In so many ways, I feel incredibly lucky to have been born in the little haven that is Denmark, where I’ve been able to make a living from being a creative,” he reflects. For him, work and leisure blend seamlessly, allowing him to shape a life on his own terms.
From the very beginning, flowers were a natural calling. “As a child, I was, like most other children, asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. My answer was I wanted to be a gardener,” he recalls. Even then, he preferred making space for a large plant in his room rather than a chest of drawers.
That love for nature, art, and design has taken him far, bringing him into contact with inspiring people and experiences, both in Denmark and abroad. “I’m very grateful to spend every day working with what I love most and also being able to do things my way,” he says. But what keeps him moving forward is an ever-present sense of possibility. “I always think I can do a better job next time and do it slightly differently. You add to things, and sometimes you subtract a bit.”
From an early age, Leif Sigersen’s fascination with plants shaped his path. “As early as year two or three at school, I was the type of kid who would get an early morning bus to the fresh produce market in Valby, where florists buy their flowers. I’d buy plants before hauling them to school with me and then bringing them home in the afternoon.” While other children carried books and school bags, he carried greenery.
Leif became an apprentice at a greenhouse after finishing school. But the reality of industrial gardening was nothing like he had imagined. “I had this romantic idea of walking around a lovely old conservatory with leaded windows among all kinds of plants in beautiful old pots. But I quickly realised that a nursery is an industrialised place and that today’s nurseries produce one, maximum two types of plants. Which means that if you work there, you do the same thing from dawn until dusk, day in and day out.” The monotony was ceaseless—“Every day, my job was to prick hundreds of seedlings out into pots, and that was it.”
After six months, the disappointment was too great. It wasn’t how he wanted to work with plants and flowers. “So I quit and went back to school for four years, mostly to be on the safe side.”
Just under a year before finishing school, Leif Sigersen had a pivotal experience. "I remember it clearly; it was a March evening at dusk," he reflects. As he met a friend in Kongens Nytorv, a captivating light streamed from a shop across from the Hotel d'Angleterre. “I immediately crossed the road as I had to find out what it was,” he says. The source of the light was Tage Andersen's shop, and in that moment, Leif’s path became clear. “In a split second, I fully realized that this was how you should work with flowers and plants. It was a magical experience for me.”
Determined to learn from Andersen, Leif soon discovered that the florist had never taken on an apprentice. “I figured someone had to be the first one,” he notes with determination. After finishing school, Leif acted swiftly. “I prepared a nice application and visited Tage’s shop. We ended up having coffee and talking for a couple of hours.” Just four days later, he became Andersen’s first apprentice.
Leif Sigersen speaks with deep respect for his craft. “Just working with plants and flowers is something truly special and something I take seriously,” he shares. “It is very rare that I do something coincidentally. There’s always an idea behind it.” For him, each arrangement is carefully considered.
He also focuses on understanding the people he works for. “I try to familiarize myself with every job. Who are the people I’m working for? What are they telling me? At times, it’s also the things they aren’t saying,” he reflects. “Every bit of information can be used to try to achieve the best possible result.”
“I pretty much always use ivy for weddings and funerals. You don’t necessarily always know it’s even there,” he notes. “I do this because of an old Danish saying: ‘hvor efeuen gror, kærligheden bor’ (where ivy grows, love lives). So that is my small contribution.”
Leif Sigersen’s connection to Griegst jewellery goes back many years. “I got my first piece of Griegst jewellery many, many years ago,” he recalls. “The first time I came across Griegst’s universe was as a very young apprentice at Tage Andersen. There I met Arje and Irene, who would frequently visit Tage’s shop. I visited them in their workshop and that was it – how could you not be completely captivated?” His enthusiasm was so infectious that his mother, understanding his admiration, gave him some money to buy a ring. “It has practically never left my finger since then. And it has very much become part of me. Since then, more pieces have been added, each with their own story that reminds me of different moments in my life.”
For Leif, wearing the rings has become more than just a habit. “On the rare occasion that I don’t wear them, it is as if something is missing,” he admits. “I sense it as soon as I walk out the door. They bring me joy – joy from all the lovely memories they contain. And because my hands are in many ways my work tool, I look at my jewellery pieces all throughout the day and am reminded of the meaningful ‘things’ in my life.”
Men's fine jewelry by Arje Griegst. Available in our showroom, online and by private appointment.