Wooden jewellery from a beautiful story

Jewellery has always been a favourite subject for women. And in this space where we talk about wood, it will be about wooden jewellery. Jewellery made to fulfil a loved one's wish. A story in which, without being protagonists, women play the main roles. Their creator is Gustav Reyes, an American artist from Chicago who says he considers himself more of a craftsman than an artist, but the collections in various museums 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 having moved between the US and Mexico for a time. When he was 5, the family moved permanently to the US, settling in Chicago. His father, of Puerto Rican descent, was a carpenter and worked in construction. He taught 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 ropes.

Unfortunately, when he was only 11, his father died in a work accident. Emotionally affected, he found solace in building dollhouses. It was his mother who was his constant support during that time. She was the first to notice her son's artistic inclinations and helped him from 1986 to 1988 when he studied painting and drawing at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Although he loved his art history course, he didn't feel he belonged and in 1988 he dropped out. She married and worked several jobs, building wooden jewelry boxes in her basement in her spare time. His and his wife's dream is for this hobby to become his main source of income.

The moment came in 2005 when he opened a shop to sell the wooden boxes. But that was just the beginning. His wife was allergic to metal 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 find out as much information as he could about this technique and see how it could be adapted to a small scale. In just a few months he made his first ring and customers noticed him in the shop. And that was the beginning.

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

Since 2008 he has been developing a more complex line of wooden jewellery, pushing the boundaries of wood even further. She works with all kinds of woods, but her favourite remains rosewood, in which she finds the perfect balance between stability and flexibility.

Recently Reyes has also taken up furniture, transferring the lines and designs used for jewellery to tables and other pieces of furniture.

Gustav says that every morning when he wakes up he is happy because he realizes he has a wonderful life. He works with wood and makes objects that make people happy and bring them together. Because he often tends to take things too seriously, his wife reminds him every day not to forget to play. And Gustav has his computer to remind him. Because, after all, that's how it all started, as a game.