Jerarmie Heywood

Jerarmie Heywood, known to most as Jezz, has become one of the most well-respected figures in contemporary bladesmithing. Based in Newcastle, Australia, he runs both Oblivion Blades and Oblivion Steel, the latter supplying billets to a roster of well-known makers around the world. His path into the craft is one of pressure-tested learning: a scrapper and a hustler in the best sense, with an early understanding that real skill comes from doing the work, taking the risks, and refining under load. That ethos still drives every aspect of his output today.

Oblivion Blades are among the most recognisable knives being produced anywhere. Heywood has developed trademark qualities that ensure no two pieces are identical, and yet every blade reads unmistakably as his work. The design language is geometry-driven and performance-led, the result of years spent pushing both his forging and his own in-house steel development. Through Oblivion Steel, he produces unique billets that other respected makers now use under licence, and the OB stamp has become a quiet marker of provenance for those who know to look for it. Few makers operate at both ends of the supply chain this convincingly.

The combination of maker and steel producer makes Heywood unusual — closer to a vertically integrated industrial workshop than a single-maker forge — and the depth of experience is audible in the knives. Edges are tuned, geometries are confident, and the blades feel like the product of someone who understands the material from ingot to edge. For Modern Cooking, bringing Oblivion Blades to Europe is a point of real pride. Heywood represents the best of contemporary Australian bladesmithing: a workshop-character maker with industrial-grade technical fluency, a genuine voice in steel, and a body of work that consistently delivers refined, cleanly resolved performance.