Introducing AMOR FATI by Jason Alton

By Benjamen Judd

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The nature of trends lies in their inherent transience. They come and go at the speed of the attention spans of fickle consumers. But some are destined to become bigger than them selves and turn into icons of design. And this is exactly what we feel is in store for the debut collection from Jason Alton’s eponymous jewellery range, JASN ALTN (you may recognise the name as belonging to the man responsible for the Nudie denim craze that has swept over Australia).

Dubbed AMOR FATI, Jason’s spectacular take on the classic diamond ring is a breath of fresh air for an industry that has a tendency to take itself a little seriously, by reinvigorating high-end luxury design with an urban and, dare we say, rock-n-roll touch.

Throwing the traditional image of the diamond in its head – both literally and figuratively – AMOR FATI is a range of inverted, colourless diamonds set in bands either gold, platinum or platinum with Ruthenium finish. The result is a striking design that defies conventional aesthetics to become an instant classic.

We had a chance to sit and chat with Jason about his collection and learn a little more about what the inspiration behind the AMOR FATI collection and a little about the man himself.

QT SYDNEY: As first collections go, this is an incredibly bold release! Congratulations. What instigated the (relatively enormous) leap from denim to jewellery?

JASON ALTON: Well thank you! The denim business with Nudie Jeans has been a fantastic experience to be part of for the past 12 years. Seeing that Nudie Jeans Co is a Swedish brand I was never involved in the creative side of the design process. Our role was to manage and market the brand to our territories. Over the past few years I grew more interested in creating my own brand that I was completely responsible for. Starting firstly with the concept, then the design and finally how to market. As I have always loved jewellery I saw an exciting opportunity to create a brand that offered something unique to the industry and that was very enticing to me.

Was jewellery something that you have always been interested in doing?

I wouldn’t say it has always been something I am interested in doing, but more so I have always had a fond appreciation for it.

Where did you pick up your jewellery design skills?

That is a really great question and one that is kind of hard to answer as I am continually learning everyday. I have no formal training in the industry but consequently it allows me to think outside the box and create unique items that set’s JASN ALTN apart from the more conventional luxury jewellery brands.

Diamonds have become such a history-heavy symbol, particularly with an increasingly ethically minded consumer – where do you source your materials?

The suppliers we use have long standing relationship with international merchants that source ethically mined stones and precious metals from all over the world.

You have literally turned the ideal cut of a diamond – that shape proven to catch the most light – upside down and created the ‘inverted diamond’. What made you do this?

It all started for me when I was looking for rings myself and as I began looking I started to think, ‘wow, everything is so boring!’ I couldn’t imagine ever wearing any of the rings I was finding. Then I started to think what could I do differently and from there I thought, what if I turned the diamonds upside down?

I think people get caught, especially in the luxury market for precious metals and jewellery, in a mold and people get scared to get out of that because they think there isn’t going to be a demographic or people won’t be interested. But that is what makes it interesting to me, you know, carving out that niche market for someone who is not interested in getting that traditional set stone or traditional type jewellery and yet still wants something that’s beautiful and still wants that luxury, high end design that isn’t costume jewellery.

You’ve mentioned some fairly strong contrasts between love/pain when talking about what meaning the collection – can you expand a little on how this inspired you?

During the inception of this collection I was going through some challenging times. Through these experiences it taught me to view situations from a more accepting perspective. This has also inspired me to create the “Amor Fati” collection.

Personally (and maybe I’m revealing too much here), I can see a slight bondage/S&M feel to the range…was this a deliberate effect?

Haha…No not at all

In saying (and expanding) upon that notion, the range does also make for a rather unique wedding ring – was this ever a concept that crossed your mind? Can you describe your ‘typical’ customer or someone who would wear the JASN ALTN range?

I think the Amor Fati collection make for an amazing men’s wedding ring but that was never my intention. The rings are designed to be unisex. I think my typical customer would be your non typical person. I would like to believe that they are risk takers and appreciate beauty in a nonconformist fashion.

Can you tell me a little about your boutique store that’s opening on Bondi’s Gould Street?

With out giving too much away…it’s set to open mid to late September this year. It will have more of a small gallery feel than your typical jewellery store. I have custom designed individual, wall mounted, glass cubes that will feature the collections throughout the space. Lighting is very important and to achieve the right mood each of the wall mounted glass boxes will be backlit to highlight the diamond jewellery. My goal is to make the glass boxes almost to appear to be glowing when mounted to the wall. The main shop lighting will be soft. Being an avid music lover it too will play a major role in the store.

What goes in to the process of creating a jewellery-focused boutique?

The space has to work to display your jewellery but also has to be designed to deter the potential risk of armed robberies haha!!…As you can imagine it makes for a challenging design aesthetic.

Lastly – any sneaky previews on what your next collection might entail?

There are lots of new additions in the works to round out the offering in Amor Fati. The new collection about to launch is hiding in the shadows of Amor Fati titled, Amor Noir, and will focus on black diamonds.

AMOR FATI is available online at jasnaltn.com now.