Olivier Reza’s jewelry sprouts across a collarbone or blooms from an ear and down a neckline. The designer’s gem-filled creations make up the second chapter of Reza, founded in Paris in the 1950s by Olivier’s father, Alexandre.
When it came time for the elder to step down 15 years ago, Olivier took up the torch, shifting from a career in finance to continue his father’s legacy, thereby “discovering a passion for his world.” In 2020, Olivier moved the French house to New York, where he’s been based for over two decades. With the change in landscape, Reza’s Parisian bent melded with the American attitude of its new creative head.
During the summer, and when he’s able to pop over during the colder months, Olivier spends much of his time out East at his home in Sagaponack. There, he finds a well of inspiration in his backyard and the abundant nature that populates the region—even in the “mesmerizing” weeds.
“It’s really beautiful when the branch is a certain shape and then there are the leaves and then there are the flowers,” he says of the flora that inspires the characteristically spare pieces he designs. “It’s not just one element or too much of one thing.”
Though he makes regular trips to France to maintain both his and the brand’s connection to their Old World roots, Olivier has firmly situated Reza in our era. He emphasizes its unique digital focus, as opposed to the typical brick-and-mortar model most jewelers run on.
“Beauty is everywhere,” he says of the many big moves the brand has navigated in recent years, to the States and the web. “No one has a monopoly on beauty.”
