CAROLIN DIELER
German jewelry designer based in Berlin.
Interview by: Chandler Crump
Photography by: Chandler Crump
Stylist: Carolin Dieler
https://carolindieler.com/shop/
CHANDLER CRUMP (CC): Could you tell me a bit more about where you grew up and where you went to school?
CAROLIN DIELER (CD): I’ve always wanted to become a fashion designer. So, when I was younger, I always attended sewing classes and stuff like that, and when I graduated high school I did vocational school to become a qualified garment tailor [for 2.5 years] and after that I went off to an academy [not university] for art. It’s in the Netherlands – it’s very open, so not divided between fashion and jewelry but three different directions: body, object, and material. You study the way you think – how I approach projects and the way of designing. Because I definitely wanted to make things the body can wear, I went into the body department. Most of my teachers were into jewelry so they always dragged me along for the weekend with all the gallery openings and I got so much insight into the jewelry world. I fell in love with it, the whole crafting and the whole process behind jewelry. It’s so unique and you have so many possibilities in terms of different materials and size and finding different ways to apply to the body.
During my third year at the academy, I had an internship in New York City with designer Chris Habana for six months and that was, like, yeah – for me that was the final decision. I love this and I want to do this.
After graduating in 2020, with no jobs due to the pandemic, Carolin decided to found her eponymous brand: Carolin Dieler.
CC: And how old are you now?
CD: Twenty-nine. I graduated high school at nineteen, did my vocational school, and then the art academy at twenty-six.
CC: You’re still so young and having your own [eponymous] brand is so incredible. I feel like the jewelry industry is finally branching out in terms of Tiffany & Co. not being the only “dream” jewelry, or David Yurman and this really really expensive jewelry almost being replicas of each other.
From your website and in person, you have a very specific crafting of jewelry. You can see you making [the pieces], you inside it, not just a copy-and-paste from a machine which I really appreciate.
I point behind her on Zoom-
CC: I see your tools behind you as well!
When you started realizing you wanted to do jewelry specifically and crafting for the body, did you tend to find a specific inspiration from the body and the act of wearing your art? Is there a specific experience you’re trying to emulate for your jewelry?
CD: Of course I love to see people wear my jewelry on a day-to-day basis. At the same time, I really love to create pieces that have an impact, or starting-point-of-conversations, like very big necklaces or really huge rings. I often hear “This is cool, but when will I wear this?” or “This is impractical as a jewelry piece”. But there's so many garments you buy for a specific moment or event – you have pieces of clothing you wear for an evening when you want to feel special. I think jewelry is the same; you can have a ring or big ear statement piece. You don't have to wear it everyday. I love the part of someone seeing something on you and being like “Oh what's the story, why are you wearing this, how is it made?” I love that about jewelry because it can tell so many stories.
CC: Do you design for yourself, as in everything you make you could see yourself wearing or do you have a specific vision that surpasses people’s taste? I’m curious about your audience and the human experience of your craft?
She giggles.
CD: I think it’s a bit of both. On the one hand, when I'm designing I try different things and try it on my body because it’s here. But of course I also, not everyday, feel like a huge necklace or huge ear piece. It’s about how I feel today and what I want to show to the public. I think I don't specifically have a person in mind when I design because I hope at least the designs are open for anyone to wear because that's the beauty of jewelry, there's no size or gender or whatever. Everybody can wear it. I would hate to limit myself or the jewelry to a specific group of people. That's not what I intend to do.
CC: What would you say is the logline to your craft?
CD: Wearable objects telling a story about the relationship between humanity and the ocean. That’s the story that pulls through all my collections.
CC: Did you grow up on the water?
CD: I did not actually. I grew up in Hannover. The drive to the ocean is not too long. My dad has a very huge ocean affinity.
CC: I definitely miss the sunset over the ocean specifically, growing up in San Francisco and now living on the Eastside of Manhattan. The concrete jungle is very much legitimate here.
![]()
Hippocampus Necklace. Image courtesy of Carolin Dieler.
Speaking of the ocean and your storytelling process, I know that you gather a lot of inspiration from the ocean, like your Hippocampus Necklace that speaks on seahorses and the fishing industry. And also, one of my favorites craft-wise and composition-wise is the Mollusca Ring – it’s quite literally the physical manifestation of a philosophical perspective. Everything you write in the descriptions is so fascinating. Philosophy in ring form! Is every spark from the ocean or a philosophical idea?
![]()
Mollusca Ring. Image courtsey of Carolin Dieler.
CD: I think it's more like, I hear a story or something that really triggers my thought-process, and I’m like “Wow this interesting” or “This is doing something”. My latest collection is called Solastalgia – I heard some readings about this feeling you get when you lose your beloved home to devastation, like a flood. The place you always thought of as your safe place is just gone. I feel like seeing this planet as our home and seeing how much it’s sacrified just for our basic human needs – we’re losing so much and it hurts so much to think about it. I need to put this into words but I’m not so good at words so….
She laughs.
CC: Like jewelry as a feeling.
Do you start off with a sketch after this emotion, then kind of experiment with materials? How do you go from thought to jewelry?
CD: I love the mix of actual man-made objects and organic shapes from the ocean. Especially when you look into the fishing and shipping industry, all these bulbs and bolts that, for me, resemble this brutalism. And also combining the shapes from the ocean, the natural, and putting it all together.
Researching a lot and collecting stories, especially animals that have cute or interesting [details]. I do a mix of sketching and using wax to mold or file stuff and putting it all together in a collage. I mostly start with the necklaces and from there I take little elements and explore it as a ring or for the ear.
CC: Is there a certain material you gravitate towards?
CD: The creating itself happens in wax which I love because there's so many different forms, you call it like… the thing for kids-
CC: Play-Doh!
CD: Yes, wax like Play-Doh, or very hard – I love the versatility of it. I can really work with my hands and it’s very very intuitive. That's important to me. Metal-wise, I use mostly silver because I love that it’s more [cold]. Most of my work speaks on dark [subjects]-
She smiles sheepishly.
CC: I love that!
CD: Gold feels too warm, too sunny. So of course when people ask for gold, I’m happy to do it, but it's not what I gravitate to. The way silver gets older, the way it darkens and tarnishes is a very beautiful way to show it’s being worn.
CC: I love brutalism and silver. It’s all about seeing the process. And it’s especially pleasing to lean into the darkness and the cold, and polishing my mom’s old silver as well is satisfying! Seeing it come back to life, a chemical reaction…
Do you have a favorite jewelry piece that people can currently find on your website?
CD: I have to say, my necklaces are what I love the most because they have the most space to tell the story. When it comes to day-to-day, I’m currently wearing the Homarus Ring most often. It has a cute way of going from very clean, industrial, bold and into a Lobstertail-texture.
CC: The shell!
CD: I love it because it nicely interlinks.
![]()
Homarus Ring. Image courtesy of Carolin Dieler.
CC: Also lobster – any person could really just dip their hand into the ocean and get one but the fact they’re presented in such a bourgeois way that says “Don't you dare pick one”, it must go through all the steps to eat it on the plate.
I also love how you use fishing ropes for the backpacks – it's so fascinating that you're able to use that material as well.
CD: I would really love to do more of those. Bigger-sized accessories like bags are so fun. It’s always difficult to get into those crafts, making a proper bag is something else!
CC: It’s so cool because I can also see the utility in that ring because of the lobster’s shell. At the end of the day, its shell protects the lobster inside. The utility of the shell design to protect your finger or be a more durable piece of jewelry for the everyday. It all connects and I just love how you pull from the ocean because there's so much utility in ocean creatures and the way the ocean operates. Also the way so little of it is explored, which is frightening!
CD: And exciting, and mysterious. I love it so much. There must be so much to come and we can’t even…
CD: Wearable objects telling a story about the relationship between humanity and the ocean. That’s the story that pulls through all my collections.
CC: Did you grow up on the water?
CD: I did not actually. I grew up in Hannover. The drive to the ocean is not too long. My dad has a very huge ocean affinity.
CC: I definitely miss the sunset over the ocean specifically, growing up in San Francisco and now living on the Eastside of Manhattan. The concrete jungle is very much legitimate here.
Speaking of the ocean and your storytelling process, I know that you gather a lot of inspiration from the ocean, like your Hippocampus Necklace that speaks on seahorses and the fishing industry. And also, one of my favorites craft-wise and composition-wise is the Mollusca Ring – it’s quite literally the physical manifestation of a philosophical perspective. Everything you write in the descriptions is so fascinating. Philosophy in ring form! Is every spark from the ocean or a philosophical idea?
CD: I think it's more like, I hear a story or something that really triggers my thought-process, and I’m like “Wow this interesting” or “This is doing something”. My latest collection is called Solastalgia – I heard some readings about this feeling you get when you lose your beloved home to devastation, like a flood. The place you always thought of as your safe place is just gone. I feel like seeing this planet as our home and seeing how much it’s sacrified just for our basic human needs – we’re losing so much and it hurts so much to think about it. I need to put this into words but I’m not so good at words so….
She laughs.
CC: Like jewelry as a feeling.
Do you start off with a sketch after this emotion, then kind of experiment with materials? How do you go from thought to jewelry?
CD: I love the mix of actual man-made objects and organic shapes from the ocean. Especially when you look into the fishing and shipping industry, all these bulbs and bolts that, for me, resemble this brutalism. And also combining the shapes from the ocean, the natural, and putting it all together.
Researching a lot and collecting stories, especially animals that have cute or interesting [details]. I do a mix of sketching and using wax to mold or file stuff and putting it all together in a collage. I mostly start with the necklaces and from there I take little elements and explore it as a ring or for the ear.
CC: Is there a certain material you gravitate towards?
CD: The creating itself happens in wax which I love because there's so many different forms, you call it like… the thing for kids-
CC: Play-Doh!
CD: Yes, wax like Play-Doh, or very hard – I love the versatility of it. I can really work with my hands and it’s very very intuitive. That's important to me. Metal-wise, I use mostly silver because I love that it’s more [cold]. Most of my work speaks on dark [subjects]-
She smiles sheepishly.
CC: I love that!
CD: Gold feels too warm, too sunny. So of course when people ask for gold, I’m happy to do it, but it's not what I gravitate to. The way silver gets older, the way it darkens and tarnishes is a very beautiful way to show it’s being worn.
CC: I love brutalism and silver. It’s all about seeing the process. And it’s especially pleasing to lean into the darkness and the cold, and polishing my mom’s old silver as well is satisfying! Seeing it come back to life, a chemical reaction…
Do you have a favorite jewelry piece that people can currently find on your website?
CD: I have to say, my necklaces are what I love the most because they have the most space to tell the story. When it comes to day-to-day, I’m currently wearing the Homarus Ring most often. It has a cute way of going from very clean, industrial, bold and into a Lobstertail-texture.
CC: The shell!
CD: I love it because it nicely interlinks.
CC: Also lobster – any person could really just dip their hand into the ocean and get one but the fact they’re presented in such a bourgeois way that says “Don't you dare pick one”, it must go through all the steps to eat it on the plate.
I also love how you use fishing ropes for the backpacks – it's so fascinating that you're able to use that material as well.
CD: I would really love to do more of those. Bigger-sized accessories like bags are so fun. It’s always difficult to get into those crafts, making a proper bag is something else!
CC: It’s so cool because I can also see the utility in that ring because of the lobster’s shell. At the end of the day, its shell protects the lobster inside. The utility of the shell design to protect your finger or be a more durable piece of jewelry for the everyday. It all connects and I just love how you pull from the ocean because there's so much utility in ocean creatures and the way the ocean operates. Also the way so little of it is explored, which is frightening!
CD: And exciting, and mysterious. I love it so much. There must be so much to come and we can’t even…
CC: What would you say is your North Star?
CD: For me it’s really important to get the story out there-- the effect we have on the ocean and how important the marine systems are --but not in a lecturing way, more in a fun and educative way where people are like “Wow I really want to learn about it and hear about it.” That’s pretty much guiding me in what I do.
CC: It’s definitely obvious that every piece of jewelry is coming from a narrative point of view, which is something that’s very hard [for an artist]. You have a very specific artist’s touch and lens.
CD: For me it’s really important to get the story out there-- the effect we have on the ocean and how important the marine systems are --but not in a lecturing way, more in a fun and educative way where people are like “Wow I really want to learn about it and hear about it.” That’s pretty much guiding me in what I do.
CC: It’s definitely obvious that every piece of jewelry is coming from a narrative point of view, which is something that’s very hard [for an artist]. You have a very specific artist’s touch and lens.
CC: If you had unlimited funding for any project, what would you use it for?
CD: I would use it to create a big collection, with not only jewelry but also bigger wearable pieces so that I can fully dress several bodies and present that in New York, preferably.
CC: At the recent Kommune Pop Up, you had a collection there in the Lower East Side – do you see yourself coming back to NYC in person?
CD: I worked with Elena Velez for her runway collection in 2021 and I’d actually love to do those collaborations for other brands as well. It’s always fun to work with other people on stuff and use their vision for their collection as a starting point to work in my direction. It’s very inspirational. Last time I did that, I wasn’t able to fly over because of the pandemic.
CC: Do you have a dream collaboration?
CD: Rick Owens (one may dream big). [People] that pull me into another world with their craft. Also Elena Velez again or Henrik Vibskov.
.
.
.
CD: I would use it to create a big collection, with not only jewelry but also bigger wearable pieces so that I can fully dress several bodies and present that in New York, preferably.
CC: At the recent Kommune Pop Up, you had a collection there in the Lower East Side – do you see yourself coming back to NYC in person?
CD: I worked with Elena Velez for her runway collection in 2021 and I’d actually love to do those collaborations for other brands as well. It’s always fun to work with other people on stuff and use their vision for their collection as a starting point to work in my direction. It’s very inspirational. Last time I did that, I wasn’t able to fly over because of the pandemic.
CC: Do you have a dream collaboration?
CD: Rick Owens (one may dream big). [People] that pull me into another world with their craft. Also Elena Velez again or Henrik Vibskov.
.
.
.
CC: Your clothing for the craft?
CD: I have to say, it’s very boring because all my funds are going into crafting. I wear mostly, who would’ve guessed, black. My favorite piece at the moment is a black lace top. Simple. I also mostly wear black suit pants. And then a hat. I’m more focused on what kind of jewelry I’m wearing to be honest.
.
.
.
CC: Des vêtements avec vérité? Favorite pieces you’re enjoying right now?
CD: I’d say it’s the bag, the Fender Bag. In the end, it doesn’t matter how weird I sometimes feel in my clothing. If I put on the bag, it tells who I am, what I’m about. I love that.
CD: I have to say, it’s very boring because all my funds are going into crafting. I wear mostly, who would’ve guessed, black. My favorite piece at the moment is a black lace top. Simple. I also mostly wear black suit pants. And then a hat. I’m more focused on what kind of jewelry I’m wearing to be honest.
.
.
.
CC: Des vêtements avec vérité? Favorite pieces you’re enjoying right now?
CD: I’d say it’s the bag, the Fender Bag. In the end, it doesn’t matter how weird I sometimes feel in my clothing. If I put on the bag, it tells who I am, what I’m about. I love that.
Fin
