Beer, punk and gold: how Czech jeweller Anna Baum built her brand

Czech jeweller Anna Baum, from the Vysočina region, made Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list and has built her own jewelry brand with a signature style of bold shapes, bright colors and punk energy — clients are willing to wait weeks for a piece.

The daughter of a jeweller whose craft runs in the family, Anna long hesitated to follow in her father’s footsteps, and found her calling unexpectedly — behind a bar in London’s Soho, where she worked pouring beer for local goldsmiths. “Their hands were dirty from work, their style was cool, and I thought: why am I not one of them?” she recalls of the turning point.

Today Baum has her own workshop and showroom in Prague’s Letná district — a space styled just like her Instagram feed: bold textures and display cases full of stones sit alongside working clutter and tools. A self-confessed workaholic, it’s there that she spends 12 to 14 hours a day, working on her new collection, Catering, dedicated to Czech identity.

Baum makes a point of not working with marketing agencies, handling everything herself — from design to promotion. “I’m a craftsperson first and foremost, and my creativity comes from the heart, not by force,” she explains her approach. The jeweller stresses that she has no interest in mass appeal: her pieces are an exclusive offering for a narrow circle of connoisseurs, not a mainstream product.

For the sake of her craft, Anna even gave up returning to handball, which she played for 12 years, to protect her hands as her most important tool. She now has ambitious plans to take her jewelry to the international market while preserving her independence and her recognizable signature style.