Jewellery designer Shaun Leane's new commission-only atelier will create 12 special pieces a year
With the launch of 12, Shaun Leane is shifting towards a slower way of creating
Jewellery designer Shaun Leane is marking a change in his decades-long jewellery practice, with the launch of a new commission-only atelier which will create only twelve pieces a year.
The shift in focus, to a considered and slower pace, is reflective of Leane himself. He began his career 44 years ago while still in his teens, as an apprentice in Hatton Garden, alongside Lee Alexander McQueen who was working as a tailor on Savile Row. The bold, strong pieces Leane created for McQueen defined a career notable for its blend of avant-garde aesthetic and rich celebration of craft. In 2019, Leane began spending more time in rural Ireland, and in 2024 left his flagship boutique in Mayfair.
A detail from Shaun Leane's first commission for 12, Headstone
It has been a culmination of events which have triggered a new direction for Leane, who is working at the antithesis of repetition and the mass market with his new atelier, 12. ‘Luxury, to me, has always meant rarity. Not only the rarity of materials, but the rarity of time and attention given to a single object. That belief is central to my approach with 12,’ he says.
The third commission, Collar for Daphne Guinness
The peace and solitude he enjoyed in rural Ireland enabled a period of great introspection, he adds. ‘12 represents a return to how I started – creating works with the highest levels of craft, passion and responsibility. By making just twelve pieces a year, each work is given the time it deserves, allowing me to create objects that are deeply considered, deeply personal, and made to become the heirlooms of the future.’
Fine jewellery rings for 12
Fine jewellery rings for 12
Leane’s first piece for 12 has been an incredibly personal objet d’art – a stone headstone in commemoration of his late father, embellished with intricate flora and fauna, and accompanied by a cat cast in bronze.
Shaun Leane, Headstone
Shaun Leane, Headstone
Other works, including a couture sterling silver collar commissioned by Daphne Guinness, unite heritage techniques and rare materials, and draw on skilled craftsmanship from goldsmithing and silversmithing to engraving and archive photography.