Our Shopfront profiles give you the chance to take a peek behind the scenes and get to know some top-shelf talents. First featured in Issue 22, Jason Ree, Creative Director at Jason Ree Designs is what you would call one heck of a talented human being. It was such a treat touring his The Rocks, Sydney studio and watching the master at work. Scott Surplice was there to capture it all too! Want to know more? Read on…
Can you please explain what Jason Ree is and what you are about? Pure and simple, I love designing and making jewellery- it’s so fun. Creating for each individual customer is really rewarding, too.
How would you describe your style? As a bespoke designer, each piece I make is unique, so there can never be a single style.
What is the price range of your pieces? There is lots of choice between materials and styles, so between $500 to $50000.
We noticed guest designers on your website. What do they bring to Jason Ree as a brand? I like having other designers who create designs that I can’t. For example, Niessing from Germany creates some of the most beautiful wedding rings that are also technically impossible for anyone else to make. Their Aura rings consist of a hundred different gold alloys blended into a single solid band that literally change colour as it turns on the hand. Just amazing.
What are the three most popular pieces that you sell the most of? Our Mokume Gane. We bond different coloured precious metals together to create patterned rings that look like wood grain. Australian Sapphires– Teal Blue is like the unicorn colour that gets increasingly difficult to find. Also, our Möbius diamond set band.
Do you have any advice for brides and grooms when choosing? Make it personal and unique. What makes you tick as a couple and what you as an individual enjoy, is the blueprint for my bespoke jewellery.
Do you offer a custom design service? Absolutely and it’s the part I love best. Constantly creating new ideas- the options are usually way more than they expect.
How far out should customers start the process if they want a bespoke piece? Six weeks is good. We take about four weeks to make most things, but there is usually a couple of meetings together before we start.
Where is your showroom based and do you need an appointment? Our showroom and workshop is in the heart of The Rocks, Sydney. I like appointments best, so I can put aside an hour. It usually takes two for a design to be finalised.
Where do you source your gorgeous gemstones and materials from? All over the world, but mostly from Australia. Knowing the cutters means I can show the journey of the rough crystal into a polished Gem. All of our gold is from Australia and I experiment with different colours- at last count, I have 25 different precious metal alloys to choose from-not just yellow or white gold.
What’s new for Jason Ree? I’m really excited to start using vitreous enamels in designs more. It’s an ancient technique.
What’s the thing your most proud of when it comes to Jason Ree? Inventing stuff that looks cool, and even other jewellers have to ask, ‘how did you do that?’
Speaking of looking cool be sure to check out Jason’s Tension Set before you scroll down any further. We’re huge fans of this magical and oh-so-modern design here at Hello May. Still lusting after more? Click here to check out a few of our fave Jason Ree Designs.
CREDITS Photos Scott Surplice Photography Rings Jason Ree Designs.
