About Us

We are Mason and Collins - Annie Collins and Vaune Mason - two creative women working in,  supporting and growing the jewellery and making community in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

Our small studio space gallery evolved from years of being in, and running our   jewellery co-working space: Workspace Studios. We began Workspace, fresh out of jewellery school nearly 20 years ago, out of a desire to create a working space where we and other jewellers could share tools, studio rent and creative energy. We actually shared our first studio in a tiny Wellington boat shed in Evans' Bay - a dreamy space but not really well suited to jewellery making. Metal tools over salt water does cause a bit of a rust issue. 

Vaune in the boat shed circa 2005

When a space came available at the local arts centre - Toi Pōneke - we shifted there, into a warm, clean and supportive environment partially funded by the Wellington City Council. In this space we were able to really develop our jewellery community hub. We wanted to create a space where makers could find their feet, share tools and mentor eachother in their creative and business practice. We were also beginning to develop our own jewellery identities and our ethos of making work in as sustainable and accessible way as we could. 

Annie at her bench in Toi Pōneke circa 2007

Over the years, as we experimented with different ways to make and sell our jewellery, we put on jewellery events. Jewels for Christmas was a super popular 3 hour event where we would take over a space in a local bar or cafe and turn it into a mini jewellery market with up to 10 different local jewellers. Shine was an amazing collaboration with circus and theatre artists; a performance jewellery exhibition showcasing larger artistic pieces. We often collaborated with other artists and jewellers, enjoying the relationships created by working alongside others. The Jewellery Apothecary was our first iteration of a jewellery gallery. The effort involved in setting up one-off jewellery sales events like exhibitions, markets and mini markets is intense and we wanted to find a space to set up our work and have it available for customers on a permanent basis. 

Our studio in Toi Pōneke had moved into a larger space within the arts centre, and we had the room to create a more permanent gallery setup in our own studio. The Makers was a collab with two jewellers who worked in our shared studio. The Makers began as a pop-up gallery, to test our idea, and ended up lasting for 6 years! 

As our different makers and collaborators lives have filled with family, personal projects and moving cities, our gallery is now fully integrated into the Wellington studio. We show work from around 20 different artists who have almost all worked with us in the past or had a strong connection to the studio as residents, tutors or students. Workspace is a well known hub for new, aspiring and professional contemporary jewellers and metalsmiths. We have a second studio in Christchurch Ōtautahi and provide travelling and online jewellery classes. 

Mason & Collins is the evolution of 17 years of working in the jewellery arts together. A celebration and affirmation of our commitment to the craft!