In this edition of Women Who Launch Rosanna and Christie Wollenberg of Otiumberg reflect on their brand's evolution, the joys of running a sister-founded business, their 10-year anniversary campaign with Poppy Delevingne, and more.
Sister duo Rosanna and Christie founded their contemporary jewellery brand in 2016 after years spent daydreaming about how jewellery could act as a catalyst for connection. Their first ever collection of 'huggies' went down a storm, resulting in a slew of new designs that have since earned the seal of approval from multiple A-listers including Jessie Buckley, Jodie Comer and Anne Hathaway. Championing a slower approach to fashion, the pair focus on creating timeless fine and demi-fine pieces.
Mine isn't really about a piece I owned, but time spent with my grandmother's jewellery. I used to sit with her and play with her hands and then find my way to her rings: her engagement ring, and one with a Greek key design. Such a sweet memory come to think of it!
(Christie) We designed our first pieces really for ourselves and our friends. I'd made some small diamond huggies while working for Louis Vuitton and living in the Middle East, right as multiple piercings and ear stacking were first coming back into fashion, and that's really where it all started. We gradually realised there was a space for beautiful, refined, well-crafted jewellery that could still be expressive and meaningful something that sat between the fine and the fashion space. At the time, there really wasn't anything else occupying that middle ground, and it just spoke to both of us instantly.
We always say we're a designer jewellery collection for everyday wear we really focus on beautiful design and considered craftsmanship, on pieces that can be worn effortlessly every day, that become your go-to.
When we think about our customer, it's less about a specific age or demographic and more about a shared appreciation for jewellery that's beautiful, quietly confident, and that she can wear every day: pieces that make her feel good, let her express her style, and that she can have fun with.
If we had to pick one moment, it would be opening our first boutique in Holland Park. Up until then, Otiumberg had only really existed online, so taking the brand offline and giving it a physical home felt hugely significant in itself. But what really made it pivotal was meeting our customers face to face for the first time watching them try pieces on, hearing what the jewellery meant to them. We've built things patiently and with love ever since, through Covid, having our own children, and climbing gold prices and we're proud of staying focused through all of it - but Holland Park is the moment that truly stands out for us. King's Road feels like just as huge an achievement in retail terms, too another real marker of how far the brand has come since that first shop.
There's been no shortage of challenges along the way. One of the biggest was very early on, when we had all of our jewellery stolen this was right as Rosanna was moving back from New York to work on the business full time. It was a brutal lesson to learn that early, but it taught us we needed to take the business seriously from day one, with proper processes and proper security in place. Then came Covid, and the challenge of keeping our whole team employed and the business moving forward through so much uncertainty. If anything, those early tests are what taught us how to build this properly with the right foundations in place, and the resilience to keep going whatever gets thrown at us next.
We met Poppy organically through the brand, and it felt right for her to be at the heart of the campaign for our Chelsea flagship. She's such an icon quintessentially British and West London, in the best sense and she's also a mother, juggling career and family in a way we relate to and admire enormously. There's a warmth and an authenticity to her that mirrors exactly what we want Otiumberg to stand for.
It really does. Some of our favourite moments of the last ten years have happened in-store meeting customers face to face and watching them interact with the jewellery, seeing what they're drawn to and why. That connection has made all the difference to us, so to bring it to somewhere as iconic as King's Road feels incredibly special. Growing up as Londoners, King's Road was always the place to go shopping, so there's real nostalgia wrapped up in this for us too it's a big moment. We fell in love with this particular corner unit the moment we saw it, and it just felt right.
We actually still have designs in the collection that have been with us since the very beginning , so while we do launch newness, our core pieces are sold and loved just as much. For us, jewellery was never meant to be a seasonal purchase, which is exactly why we don't run end-of-season sales. Instead, we focus on timeless pieces and test everything in small production runs. There's real joy for us in watching a piece become iconic and unmistakably Otiumberg over time.
We don't deny that our industry uses natural resources and thrives on newness that's simply the reality of it. For us, it's about being conscious of that impact: monitoring it, and making sure we're doing things in an open way. We want to be proud of it, after all.
Beyond that, we're honest and curious it's really just who we are when it comes to responsibility. We work within a B Corp framework and are always trying to ensure we operate in the best way possible, such as through projects using Single Mine Origin gold and lab-cultivated diamonds grown with renewable energy. We try to communicate openly, and do what we can within our means as an independent business. The B Corp framework runs through the business, making us responsible from the inside out, which feels good and real not just a marketing plug. We're particularly proud of our partnership with The Girls' Network we donate and also importantly host an internship for their girls; it's a joy.
It's wonderful to see those women in our pieces, but we get just as much joy sitting on the Underground and spotting a stranger wearing Otiumberg, or hearing about a group of friends who buy each other Otiumberg every year for their birthdays it's all just as meaningful to us. That said, we've always had a bit of a crush on Chloë Sevigny, so of course we'd love to see her in the pieces one day.
For us, it's having a shared aesthetic, so we can work in two quite distinct lanes and always come back together, and it all works as one. There's a shorthand that comes from being sisters that makes working together so much easier and the support, too: you know each other so well that you can tell straight away when the other one needs a hand, or is just having an off day. I'm sure the team finds our shorthand a little frustrating at times, but for us it makes working together so much easier.
On top of that, being neighbours means we can hang out easily as sisters outside of work, without it feeling forced, so being sisters outside of being co-founders is much easier too. It also means we can easily jump on calls or sit down for a design session whenever needed.
It's hard, if we're honest but being neighbours genuinely helps. It makes it so much easier to just be sisters rather than colleagues: Christie's kids jump over the fence, and I can pop round for a cuppa with my baby boy without it needing to be a whole plan. In terms of boundaries, we try not to talk business when we're with the wider family, and we've actually been pretty good about sticking to that.
Take your time and build patiently rather than chasing overnight success the brands that last are the ones built on solid foundations. Focus on your quality and product, not just the marketing as over time that is what will make the difference and build a loyal community around the brand.
Right now, it's probably AI we're trying to work out how we can use it at Otiumberg in a way that feels right for us. It's a bit of a balancing act: staying open and curious about what AI can do for the business efficiencies etc without it ever coming at the expense of the craft, care and personal touch the brand is built on.
With King's Road now open, the next chapter is very much about making that a success - opening a store is only the beginning. Beyond that, it's about continuing to roll out further into our leading international markets, and evolving always by trusting our gut on what feels right, rather than following a formula. Whatever we do next, we want our customers to feel seen. Otiumberg is such a personal reflection of who we are, so however the brand evolves, it has to keep feeling like us.
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