Wooden jewellery from a beautiful story

Jewelry has always been a favorite subject for women. And in this space where we talk about wood, it will be about wooden jewelry. Jewelry made to fulfill a dear woman's wish. A story in which, without being the protagonists, women play the leading roles. Their creator is Gustav Reyes, an American artist from Chicago who says he considers himself more of a craftsman than an artist, but his museum collections contradict him.

Gustav credits his success to the support he has received from his wife and family. He was born in 1968 in Mexico, his parents oscillating between the US and Mexico for a while. When he was 5, the family moved permanently to the US, settling in Chicago. His father, of Puerto Rican origin, was a carpenter and worked in construction. He instilled in him the basics of woodworking and the pride of being a good craftsman. They were very close, and his father often took him to work with him, teaching him the trade.

Unfortunately, when he was only 11, his father died in a work accident. Emotionally distressed, he found comfort in building doll's houses. It was his mother who continuously supported him during this time. She was the first to notice his son's artistic inclinations and helped him from 1986-1988 when he studied painting and drawing at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Although she loved her art history course, she didn't feel she had found her place and in 1988 she dropped out. He married and worked several jobs, building wooden jewelry boxes in his spare time in the basement of his house. It was his and his wife's dream that this passion would become his main source of income.

The moment came in 2005 when he opened a shop to sell wooden boxes. But that was only the beginning. His wife was allergic to metals and one day she came into the workshop asking him if he could make a ring out of wood. at first he said this was impossible, but after a while she came back asking all sorts of questions about wood and woodworking. Reyes then remembered her art history class and a German-Austrian furniture maker, Michael Tonet, who invented the process of bending wood by steaming.

He immediately started to research as much information as he could about this technique and to see how it could be adapted to a small scale. In just a few months she made her first ring and customers noticed it in the shop. And that was the beginning.

Reyes started making rings out of all kinds of wood, from wood brought in by the waters to holy wood brought from India. She encouraged customers to bring in wood that told their own story. This created a special bond with the customers, and he was able to make rings that would bind people into a story. The rings and their stories can be found under the brand Simply Wood Rings.

Since 2008 he has been developing a more complex line of wooden jewelry, pushing the boundaries of wood even further. He works with all kinds of wood species, but his favorite remains rosewood, where he finds the perfect balance between stability and flexibility.

Recently Reyes has also turned to furniture, transferring the lines and patterns used for jewelry to tables and other pieces of furniture.

Gustav says that every morning when he wakes up, he is happy because he realizes that he leads a wonderful life. He works with wood and makes things that make people happy and bring them together. Because he often tends to take things too seriously, his wife reminds him every day to remember to play. And Gustav uses his computer to remind him. Because after all, that's how it all started, as a game.