About Us
(græ-dæns) As talismans of expression, Graedance’s demi-fine jewellery is consciously designed with consideration of changes in the wearer’s body and mood, allowing for jewellery that evolves with the wearer.
Birthed through the reconstruction of the colour gray/grey — often cited as too weak to be considered masculine and too menacing to be considered feminine — the brand exists in the in-between. Neither warm nor cold, neither material nor spiritual, grey symbolises Graedance’s liminal ethos and the tension it invites.
An ode to the undefined, Graedance invites the discovery of each individual’s in-between and grey area — the expansive space beyond our cultural blueprint’s binaries. Created to celebrate the gradients we inhabit, the brand reflects a world where identity is fluid and belonging is self-defined.
Operating out of Melbourne (Naarm), Australia, the pieces are handcrafted using recycled metals and earth-conscious processes, blending contemporary design with considered making.
Our mission is to create modern talismans that honour fluid identity, adaptability, and self-expression — jewellery designed to move with the body, the mind, and the moments that shape us.
Founded by Rong Jake Chen — a queer Chinese-Australian designer — Graedance is shaped by lived experience at the intersection of cultures and identities. Formerly at AMXANDER, Rong Jake has received nominations from the International Woolmark Prize and the National Designer Award for his previous design work.
“Having explored the reinvention of uniforms from prior cultures and occupations at AMXANDER — understanding that these garments reflected homogeneity and conformity — I want to now explore the sociology behind each wearer, providing a reconstructed reflection that we are individual and completely distinct, regardless of our jobs, background, or culture.”
Rong Jake’s design philosophy centres on versatility — pieces restructured to be worn in expansive ways and forms — and exists at the cross-section of the real and surreal, the simple and the extravagant. This perspective is deeply informed by his experience as a QPOC creative, aligning with Graedance’s ethos of fluidity and inclusion.
Every design decision, from product form to packaging, carries this intention: to create jewellery that holds space for self-expression while remaining earth-conscious in its making.
