Our history
Goldsmith Sando is originally from Hallingdal, and since 1901, four generations of goldsmiths have succeeded each other.
Kolbjørn and Jørgen Sando are master goldsmiths and have always worked to maintain a good professional profile, with their own workshop for engravings and repairs.
Our specialty is bunadsilver and we have made contact with a large selection of good bunadsilver manufacturers.
From the very largest, such as Sylvsmidja in Voss, to the very smallest with local specialties such as ourselves.
All our bunad silver is made in Norway.
We are also a member of the Norwegian Goldsmiths’ Association, where 1.
generation goldsmith Kolbjørn Sando was one of the founders.
The Sando farm in Hallingdal. In front on horseback is Eirik Sando, father of 1st. generation jeweler; Kolbjørn.
When goldsmith Kolbjørn was told he had little time left to live, he went back to Hallingdal and had a photo taken with his parents Guri and Eirik and his siblings. Kolbjørn to the right.
The story of Rjukan’s oldest achievement
The story of goldsmith K. E. Sando actually began in Hallingdal at the end of the 19th century.
On the Sando farm in Ål, Kolbjørn was the eldest of Guri and Eirik’s 12 children.
As a farm boy, he had to learn everything there was to know about running a farm, but Kolbjørn was more interested in working in the smithy and learning crafts.
Father Eirik didn’t like this, and locked the forge door.
Kolbjørn was no more stingy than he was when he had his own key made and was in the forge at night – he wanted to be a goldsmith.
With his mother’s support and understanding, he gave up his share and started a workshop and shop in Nesbyen.
This was in 1901, and Kolbjørn was 27 years old.
In the early years, it was filigree that was in vogue – thread work both for bunad silver and to decorate the outfits of pretty city women.
For a time, he had four people working in the workshop.
It was during this period that he married Karoline from Sandsvær, and they eventually had five children together.
But fashions changed, then as now, and it became more difficult to sell to wholesalers in Kristiania (Oslo).
On the other hand, there were golden times in Telemark, where Hydro’s entry into Tinn had turned Rjukan into a place with 12,000 inhabitants.
The place was tough, full of hardy rowdies.
Power stations and factories were built, and kilometers of tunnels were drilled with hammer and chisel.
The rallar base had piecework – 4 cents per inch was a lot of money.
In 1911, Kolbjørn bought a goldsmith and watchmaker’s shop here, and built a house so that his family could follow in 1912.
Old newspaper ads from Rjukan Dagblad and Rjukan Arbeiderblad.
A thriving community
Rjukan was a thriving community that was to be expanded, and for a time Kolbjørn ran a goldsmith’s and watchmaker’s shop, a soft drink factory, a steam laundry and a quarry in addition to being chairman of the school board.
He was so hard-working that he sometimes fell asleep in the workshop in the late evening hours.
Then Karoline came and got him: “Now you can come home and sleep, Kolbjørn!”.
Unfortunately, Kolbjørn was in poor health, and despite a major operation in 1915, he died in 1923, aged just 48.
At the time, the eldest son Erik was 17 years old.
He continued to run the jewelry shop and followed in his father’s footsteps when he took his apprenticeship as a goldsmith in 1929.
In the family, there are stories about the time he drove his new Harley Davidson off the road and into the woods with his mother in the sidecar.
They were both fine (the bike had to be sent by train from Miland to Rjukan), but the mature mother probably had some clear messages for her son.
In 1933, Erik married Sigrid from Mandal and they had their first child, son Kolbjørn, in 1938.
Rjukan has always been an eldorado for outdoor enthusiasts, and in addition to being a skilled tennis player and photographer, Erik was a very keen outdoorsman and hunter.
He was a Krag shooter until the war came in 1940, when all weapons had to be handed in, along with his radio and car.
(When Hardangervidda was to be checked for saboteurs, NS also requisitioned skis, boots and poles, as well as two wool blankets. The family still has the receipt, but the equipment has not been returned).
Third generation
Goldsmith Jørgen Sando in 2001 and Goldsmith Kolbjørn E. Sando in 1901.
After the war, Hydro flourished again in Rjukan, and in 1954, the third generation began their career in the trade.
Kolbjørn was 16 years old when he started studying goldsmithing at Oslo Vocational School.
After school and his apprenticeship, Kolbjørn completed two years of training in gemology, and became the youngest person in the country to take an international exam in this special subject.
Back in Rjukan, Kolbjørn was trained in hand engraving by his father.
Not many people know how to do this anymore, as most of it is done by machine.
But in Rjukan, it has become a family tradition at the jeweler’s…
Erik died suddenly in 1968, not long after handing over formal responsibility for the shop to Kolbjørn.
Like his father and grandfather, Kolbjørn has been very active in Rjukan’s community life, holding leading positions in the Craftsmen’s Association, the Scouts, the local shooting club and the Norwegian Goldsmiths’ Association.
He also managed to marry Randi in 1960.
They have three sons, and the youngest, Jørgen, born in 1970, began his vocational training in 1986.
Like previous generations, he has completed both a journeyman’s test and a master’s certificate in the goldsmith’s trade.
From 1986 to 2000, K. E. Sando ran stores in both Rjukan and Mandal (even two stores in Mandal for a few years).
Jørgen could therefore choose where he wanted to build his future.
He had found his Åse in Mandal and was pleased that she wanted to come to Rjukan, so the store in Mandal was sold.
Goldsmith Sando today
Åse and Jørgen’s first child, Karoline Emilie Sando, was born at the end of 2000 – almost a hundred years after her great-great-grandfather first used the stamp “K. E. Sando” on his work for the first time.
The golden wedding anniversary of Randi and Kolbjørn (3rd generation goldsmith) Sando in 2010. Also pictured are Åse and Jørgen (4th generation jeweler) with their children Karoline, Marie and Eirik.
Have you seen our workshop?
Family business established in 1901.
Our specialty is bunad silver: We have more than 100 national costumes – and only made in Norway!
