Charles Colins Söhne

The Hanau-based jewellery company Charles Colins Söhne was one of the leading family-owned goldsmiths in the 19th century. The high quality of its products was repeatedly recognised by the royal courts of Europe, which commissioned them as state gifts during diplomatic visits. The southern German city of Hanau was renowned in the second half of the 18th century as one of the main centres for the production of small jewellery items (Galanteriewaren), the quality of which was so high that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe noted that it was superior to the quality of items made in Geneva or Paris at the time.