Ocean, Lake, River, or Pool — Your Jewelry Passport to Switzerland’s Blue Waters
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Switzerland does not have an ocean.
What it has instead is something arguably more extraordinary — a country so thoroughly threaded with water that you are never more than a few kilometres from a lake, a river, a waterfall, or an alpine pool so clear it looks like someone filled a mountain with glass.
1,500 lakes. The Rhine, the Rhône, the Aare, the Inn — four of Europe’s great rivers, all born within Swiss borders. Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe by volume. Lake Geneva, shared with France and carrying more water than any other lake in Western Europe. The Zürichsee, the Thunersee, Lago Maggiore, the Brienzersee — each one a different shade of blue, a different quality of light, a different reason to get in.
Switzerland is, at its heart, a water country. And a water country deserves waterproof jewelry for swimming that rises to meet every blue moment within it.
This is your jewelry passport — a collection of the most iconic Swiss water experiences, and the Raline Bergemann pieces that were made for each one.
Zürichsee — The Urban Lake
There is something uniquely Swiss about swimming in a lake in the middle of a major international city.
Zürich does not treat the Zürichsee as a backdrop. It treats it as a living room. The lidos — the Strandbad Mythenquai, the Badi Tiefenbrunnen, the Seebad Enge — open in May and do not close until September, and on any warm weekday the water is full of swimmers who arrived before work and will arrive again after it.
The Zürichsee swimmer is not on holiday. She is simply a woman who lives fully within the city that surrounds her — who has made the lake part of the rhythm of an ordinary day.
For the Zürichsee: The Daisy Flower Crystal Studs from the Forever Flowers Collection — the perfect urban lake earring. Small enough to be forgotten during the swim, beautiful enough to still be wearing in the meeting that follows. A short pendant necklace at collarbone length, sitting flat through every lap. Gold that goes from the Badi to the boardroom without stopping.
The VIPeace moment: Swimming before work on a Tuesday, gold still on, arriving at the office already glowing before the day has properly begun.
Thunersee — The Alpine Dream
If the Zürichsee is the urban lake, the Thunersee is the lake that exists in the part of the Swiss imagination that believes the world is as beautiful as it feels on a clear summer day.
The Bernese Oberland rises from its southern shore in a wall of rock and snow — the Eiger, the Mönch, and the Jungfrau reflected in water so still on calm mornings that the mountains appear twice. The town of Thun at the lake’s western edge, with its castle and its bridges and its flowers in every window, belongs to a particular Swiss idea of perfection: old, considered, enduring.
Swimming in the Thunersee on a summer afternoon is not recreation. It is a reminder that some things are simply worth being present for — the kind of experience that redirects your attention, completely and without effort, to what is most precious.
For the Thunersee: The Forever Flowers Collection in full — Floral Bouquet Hoops catching the afternoon light, Forever Flower Pendant resting against the collarbone, Forever Flowers Harvest Bracelet completing the botanical stack. The mountains behind her. The water around her. The gold between her and the sky.
The VIPeace moment: The dive off the pier at 4pm when the light is perfect and the mountains are reflected in the water and the decision to jump took less than a second. Gold still on. Blue Fire fully lit.
Lago Maggiore — The Mediterranean Dream
The Swiss do not always advertise Ticino the way it deserves.
In the southernmost canton, the Alps descend to palm trees. The light changes — warmer, more Italian, the kind that makes every surface golden by 10am. Lago Maggiore stretches between Switzerland and Italy, its northern shores Swiss, its southern reaches belonging to Lombardy, its water a deep, clear blue that feels nothing like the alpine lakes to the north.
Swimming in Lago Maggiore is swimming in the idea of the Mediterranean without leaving Switzerland. The pace is slower. The evenings are longer. The apéros at lakeside restaurants extend into dinners that extend into nights that nobody wants to end.
For Lago Maggiore: The Statement Queen Collection earns its moment here — bolder pieces for longer evenings, the Cuban Chain Statement Necklace for the lakeside restaurant dinner, oversized hoops for the promenade at Locarno. But also the Golden Love Stories Collection — because Lago Maggiore is a lake for couples, for shared tables, for the Forever Lovers Couple Necklace worn through a swim and still perfectly golden at dinner.
The VIPeace moment: The long Ticino evening that begins in the water and ends with candlelight, the same gold worn through both, time moving slowly enough to be worth counting.
Rhine Falls — The Power Swim
Neuhausen am Rheinfall, just outside Schaffhausen, is home to the largest waterfall in Europe by volume — a thundering, permanent spectacle of water that moves 600 cubic metres per second at peak flow and has been doing so, more or less, since the last ice age.
You cannot swim in the Rhine Falls themselves. But you can swim in the Rhine above and below them — long, strong river swims in currents that demand full presence and full strength. The Rhine swim is not a passive experience. It is an active engagement with the force of natural water — the kind that leaves you feeling more alive than almost anything else.
For Rhine swimming: The Daily Glow Collection — pieces built for movement, for current, for the kind of active water experience where jewelry must be completely secure and completely waterproof. The Alvéole Hexagon Bracelet sits flush against the wrist without creating drag. Small hoop earrings stay close to the ear through the strongest current. A short chain necklace at the collarbone goes with the water rather than against it.
The VIPeace moment: Emerging from the Rhine downstream, current-rinsed and exhilarated, gold still exactly where it was when you entered. The river asked everything of you. Your jewelry asked nothing.
Lake Geneva — Where It All Began
Lac Léman. The largest lake in Western Europe. The lake that sits beneath the Alps and reflects them back so perfectly that the boundary between earth and sky feels negotiable.
This is where Raline Bergemann began — not in a design studio, not in a boardroom, but at the edge of this lake on a summer evening when the light was doing what it only does in Montreux in summer, and a woman decided that she was not going to take her jewelry off before she dived in.
As we explored in the brand story that started everything, Lake Geneva is not merely a location in the Raline Bergemann story. It is the origin point. The reason the brand exists. The lake that made the question impossible to ignore: why do we keep taking our jewelry off?
For Lake Geneva: Everything. The full expression of what Raline Bergemann is — the Forever Flowers Collection for the botanical dreamers, the Daily Glow Collection for the active swimmers, the Lucky Charms Collection for the women who believe that good fortune is something you carry with you, in the water and out of it.
The VIPeace moment: The dive into Lac Léman at golden hour. No hesitation. Gold catching the light beneath the surface. The Alps reflected in the ripples around her. This is what it was always supposed to feel like.
Your Passport, Stamped
Switzerland has 1,500 lakes. Each one is a different shade of blue, a different quality of light, a different reason to get in.
Your jewelry should be ready for all of them.
Every Raline Bergemann piece is 18K gold PVD on 316L surgical-grade stainless steel — genuinely, scientifically waterproof, hypoallergenic, EU REACH certified, and backed by the Blue Fire 2-Year Guarantee. In 2026, every purchase contributes a portion of net profit to Krebsforschung Schweiz — because we have learned, in the most personal way, that the courage to dive in fully is never a small thing.
Take A Trip to Your VIPeace. Into the water. Into the light. Into the summer that is happening right now, and is already the best one yet.
Explore the Forever Flowers Collection →
Shop the Lucky Charms Collection →
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can you wear waterproof jewelry while swimming in Swiss lakes?
Yes — 18K gold PVD on 316L surgical-grade stainless steel is chemically resistant to the mineral content of natural lake water and safe for repeated submersion in all Swiss lakes including Zürichsee, Thunersee, Lake Geneva, and Lago Maggiore. Raline Bergemann’s waterproof collections are specifically designed for the Swiss active outdoor lifestyle.
What is Schmuck beim Schwimmen — jewelry for swimming?
Schmuck beim Schwimmen refers to jewelry designed to be worn during swimming — in lakes, pools, rivers, and open water — without tarnishing, fading, or causing skin reactions. 18K gold PVD on 316L surgical steel is the ideal material for this category, and every Raline Bergemann piece meets this standard fully.
Which Raline Bergemann collection is best for lake swimming in Switzerland?
The Forever Flowers Collection is the most naturally suited to Swiss lake swimming — its botanical forms and delicate designs sit close to the skin and transition beautifully from the water to the terrace. The Daily Glow Collection is ideal for active and river swimming where secure, streamlined pieces are essential. The Lucky Charms Collection adds a touch of meaning and good fortune to every water adventure.
What is the best jewelry for open water and river swimming in Switzerland?
For open water and river swimming, choose pieces that sit close to the body — small hoops or studs, a short chain necklace at collarbone length, and a fitted bracelet on the non-dominant wrist. All pieces should be 18K gold PVD on 316L surgical-grade stainless steel for maximum waterproofing and skin safety. The Raline Bergemann Daily Glow Collection is specifically designed for this kind of active water wear.
Where is Raline Bergemann based and what inspired the brand?
Raline Bergemann is based in Münsingen, Bern, Switzerland. The brand was inspired by a summer evening at Lake Geneva — Lac Léman — when the founder refused to remove her jewelry before diving in, and realised that no jewelry on the market was built to go everywhere a Swiss woman goes. The brand was built to fill that gap, with 18K gold PVD on 316L surgical steel at its core.
Take A Trip to Your VIPeace. ✦