Reza gems are lovely objects to behold, however they’re greater than essentially the most vividly reduce cushion diamonds, sugar loaf non-heat handled Sri Lankan sapphires or Columbian emeralds. They comprise a narrative of a model fashioned from a lineage of gem merchants that dates again for hundreds of years—the kind that you simply examine in jewellery historical past books.

Alexandre Reza based his namesake firm within the Fifties on Paris’ Place Vendôme, which turned famend for Alexandre’s breathtaking designs that showcased his in depth private assortment of treasured gems. His son Olivier took over Reza in 2020 and is respiratory recent life into his household’s legacy along with his authentic designs. He’s reaching a model new viewers whereas making a continuity that offers a nod to his father’s aesthetic and stays true to the model’s heritage.

To know the philosophy and historical past behind the model, Olivier tells the story of his father’s gem assortment:

“We’re descendants of Israelites that had been forged from Samaria within the early 700s and settled in Iran. A millennium later in 1739, the Emperor of Persia launched into a conquest of India, returning with lovely gems and jewellery from the Mughal Treasury. He entrusted the duty of taking care of his treasures to 40 Mashhadi members of the Jewish diaspora, together with my ancestors. Subsequently, my father got here from a protracted line of merchants and craftsmen who perfected and handed the follow right down to the subsequent generations. He continues, “My household later settled in Russia within the early twentieth century, the place my father was born and have become immersed in gems at an early age whereas working at my grandfather’s retailer.”

When Alexandre was round eight or ten years outdated, the household moved to Good, the place there was a rising Russian group. There, his father and Olivier’s grandfather opened a retailer the place he purchased and bought jewellery and silver. At 14, Alexandre started working within the store and took over on the younger age of 18.

“He then spent a lot of the mid-20^th century touring the globe. This was after the second world battle when a number of the greatest mines in Asia, Burma, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Thailand Latin America, Colombia and Brazil weren’t open to the lots,” says Olivier. “However because of my father’s background, he was one of many fortunate gem collectors and sellers who had been capable of supply the very best of the very best and to be supplied essentially the most distinctive gems or when new supplies got here onto the market. This expertise allowed him to hone his experience and set up relationships with artists, craftsmen and premiere jewelers earlier than hanging out on his personal.”

As a younger boy and younger man, Olivier adopted in his dad’s footsteps. He labored in his father’s store, watching, studying and finally taking on the model along with his personal sensibility—as a jeweler of streamlined, deceptively easy designs and as a purveyor of the best gems and the way they steadiness one another.

For a lot of of his personal creations, Olivier reached into his father’s famed archive of gems. He re-imagined and re-cut them to reinforce their greatest qualities—the radiance, character, form, magnificence and brilliance of every stone. In rejuvenating these gems, he has additionally created a set that he describes as “dressing the physique harmoniously.”

Most just lately, he relocated from Paris’ Place Vendôme to New York Metropolis as a part of a reinvigoration of the home, which features a new assortment and digital flagship (www.worldofreza.com). All model operations and jewellery manufacturing are headquartered within the new Madison Avenue atelier.

In describing his method to design, Olivier explains, “The stone is important, in addition to the creativity of the design, and the way it matches on the human physique with prototypes designed with CAD and 3D printing. A drawing is nice to have nevertheless it is only one step. It is step one of placing a gemstone in movement. The next step is to conceive the drawing three-dimensionally to seize the stone’s magnificence and create motion and fluidity on the physique.”

Olivier additionally speaks to his generational historical past, “The items have to be real and genuine and reveal the tradition of how my father valued lovely materials—this continues to dominate any piece we create.”

Olivier describes his type as summary—which appears to have a pure simplicity, however it’s counterintuitive. As Olivier explains, “these designs are much more difficult and elaborate to create.”

He continues, “My aim is to shock and illicit feelings with silhouettes and compositions that the jewellery fanatic or collector has by no means seen earlier than by deciding on and re-shaping essentially the most attractive stone, which leads to a design that matches effortlessly on the physique and creates the connection between the jewel and the wearer .”