A talk with . A talk with . A talk with . A talk with . A talk with
@jasrew . @jasrew . @jasrew . @jasrew
A TALK WITH @jasrew London-based creative director and accidental watch designer.
Watches only recently came into my life, and I’m not a trained horological designer either, but I believe it gives me an edge in a predominantly conservative industry. Working with @balticwatches and @a_collected_man, I’m able to “design what I want to collect”. It’s a simple brief, but few are the collaborators who let you experiment to your heart’s content, or bring to life your wildest dreams, such as my gemset MR01.
Fashion is my background. Equal parts art and provocation, it’s brave, dramatic and has an attitude — more of which could benefit the horological world. I feel perfectly at home in London, where so many influences are clashing, and nobody seems to mind. Riffing off popular culture, but rejecting mass, I like to combo watches and styles that don’t belong together.
Photography is vital, both as a reflection of the world as I see it, but also as a way of collecting. Oddly enough, I don’t feel I took possession of a watch, until I shoot it. What I love about stills is that they represent a specific point of view on the subject, a personal reality you chose to capture.
Architecture is a major inspiration for me, especially how light and shadows react and transform volumes and surfaces. When designing a watch I aim to avoid flatness, inviting collectors to rediscover their timepiece every time they look at it, and develop an emotional connection between human and object.
Niche cultures make me tick, I have a fascination with the weird and wonderful. Manga/anime, video gaming, meme lords, artificial intelligence, dystopian sci-fi novels and obscure esoterica to name a few. Inspiration works in mysterious ways, and I enjoy taking cues from the most unexpected places, like for my Pagan project with bespoke post-goth typography!