Jason arasheben biography
“Ten years ago they were not nearly as flashy as their American counterparts,” says Arasheben. “The US athletes want to be known, they want to be seen, they go overboard. But the British guys are now like that too. The world has become a much smaller place; with social media, everyone knows what everyone’s doing at a moment’s notice.”
The only thing we haven’t done is a royal crown, but there is plenty of time for that
Arasheben’s collaborative process is simple. “The first thing I do is sit down with them to find their energy. How do they dress? What are they wearing? I do as much research as I can. I get inspired by the natural intrinsic vices people have, whether it be drugs, whether it be violence, whether it be access, whether it be hubris, whether it be pride, all these things. I really enjoy bringing those out in my pieces. Although I’m a huge fan of Harry Winston and Tiffany, I wanted to do something different. I like to push the boundaries. A lot of my pieces are very eccentric, very edgy. I feel like I have created my own little niche. It’s a small niche, but it’s my niche.”
He is a big fan of British jewellers such as Stephen Webster, Theo Fennell and Solange Azagury-Partridge, and you can occasionally see their influence in his work, although he tends to involve his clients so much that the designs are almost complete collaborations.
Jewellery, especially men’s jewellery, tends to divide people, even younger consumers, who are more attuned to the optics of ostentation than any of their forebears. But the world of male bling is growing, sparkling, even.
“The number of men purchasing jewellery for themselves has increased hugely over the past few years, as men have started to spend more on fashion items and have generally become more interested in their appearance and branded fashion,” says Chana Baram, a retail analyst at Mintel. “Traditional rules regarding masculinity and femininity are breaking down, particularly among younger generations, Can you tell us a little bit about your business? We started this brand about, I would say close to 12 years ago and it really started in just my apartment and now it has grown into having four stores with over 70 employees and just really started as something that was bred within the celebrity industry. We cater to some of the world’s biggest celebrities, athletes, entertainers and wealthy consumers. We’re definitely not the normal traditional jeweler mom and pop store. We really do specialize in bespoke pieces which are custom pieces made to order according to the client’s needs and wants. That’s really how we started and that was really our heritage, and we carried it along with all of our stores where clients can come in and experience a unique experience where they can customize their own pieces. We have our own line of merchandise. We have ready to wear – so to speak – pieces as well. We have our own watch line, bracelets, rings, and necklaces, but the customer gets that unique experience where they come in and we can cater these pieces to them and their individual taste. How did you get into the jewelry industry? I attended UCLA with the hopes of being an attorney. At that time, I really loved design and talking to people. I loved interacting with different people, so being that I was in debt in my sophomore year, I needed to come up with a plan to be able to make money. I wasn’t the type to work at Baskin-Robbins. I’m an entrepreneur at heart so I really wanted to come up with something that would provide me income basically immediately. I came from a family of entrepreneurs. My father is an entrepreneur. He did his own businesses and stuff like that, so I really was brought up not so much around the corporate structure but more along the lines of family business, entrepreneur, so I saw that growing up and I think it has definitely translated later on into life. It gave me a unique approach to things and not wanting to settle. Jason Arasheben—known to the world as Jason of Beverly Hills—has become one of the most coveted jewelers for top celebrities and athletes. His journey is as fascinating as the jewelry he creates. Growing up surrounded by the glitz and glamor of Beverly Hills, Jason aspired to be a part of that world from an early age. But, like many entrepreneurial paths, his wasn’t paved with instant success. He faced countless rejections, each one only strengthening his determination. “I don’t take no for an answer,” he says—a mantra that propelled him to establish the globally recognized luxury brand Jason of Beverly Hills. Jason wasn’t always destined to be a jeweler, not according to his parents. They envisioned a very different future for him, one spent in courtrooms arguing cases as an attorney. Jason was even studying law at UCLA, fully immersed in common law and courtroom preparation, preparing for what he thought was his inevitable future. But something inside him was screaming to do something more creative. Jason began by spending his last few dollars in the wholesale district in downtown Los Angeles, buying plastic hair clips and trinkets by the dozen. He convinced UCLA to let him sell them on campus in exchange for donating 20% of his earnings to the student body. By the time he graduated, Jason had expanded his operation to six college campuses, but he wanted more. Frustrated with selling cheap jewelry, he started designing his own pieces. As he was earning more than most young lawyers, he decided to scale up his business. Despite his initial success, Jason’s father wasn’t thrilled with his decision to abandon law for jewelry. His father, a realtor who had dabbled in jewelry himself, dismissed his son’s ambitions, and they didn’t speak for two and a half years. But Jason didn’t give up. He wanted something bigger, something grander. Nights that were once spent studying were now fille .