Noura Sakkijha can still remember her very first piece of jewelry very well.

Heart-shaped earrings, and maybe four or five.

A gift from her father who, like her grandfather, was a jeweler.

She thinks about these earrings during the interview about Zoom, to which she is connected from the headquarters of her fine jewelry label Mejuri in Toronto, Canada.

She says: "No matter how old you are, you never forget the emotional connection to a beloved piece of jewelry."

For Sakkijha, jewelry is “part of my DNA”, says the co-founder and managing director and laughs. It was always clear to the 36-year-old that she would one day continue the family tradition and do something with jewelry herself. However, tradition leads her into the future with Mejuri: Her label is primarily aimed at women who buy their own jewelry. Sound banal? In 2015, when the brand was launched, the initially simple concept was just as innovative as it was daring. Actually, it still is today.

Sakkijha says: “It's traditionally like this: Most jewelry makers are men, most jewelry makers are men.

Jewelry is primarily aimed at women - but those who buy them are mostly men. ”With Mejuri, Sakkijha opened the door to a world for women that was also built by women.

Ultimately, this is also reflected in the design, which is sometimes reduced and modern, but also sometimes fashionable and playful - but never screams for "status".

Women want to express their own personality

According to Sakkijha, pieces of jewelry that men give women also have representative functions and are usually related to the occasion.

As soon as women buy their own jewelry, give themselves presents, it is more about expressing their own personality.

In the case of Mejuri, for example, this means currently trendy creoles in silver and gold, small for the day and large for the big show or in the form of a curved baguette; wafer-thin or chunky, partly stone-set rings, several of which can be worn on the same finger as desired. And why not on several fingers on the whole hand. Coarse link chains made of titanium that are currently so trendy can be found in the range as well as filigree chains with small diamonds sparkling.

The jewelry is sold exclusively through Mejuri's own shops in Canada and the USA as well as in its own online shop.

What Sakkijha can save in costs through the direct-to-consumer model, she practically gives back to the customer: With many products in a segment of up to 150 euros, Mejuri is quite affordable.

Even if there is now a selection of pieces of jewelry that cost over 500 euros.

Direct sales also enable Sakkijha to be much closer to customers.

She says: "Our community is incredibly important to us." This can be seen in a whopping 1.1 million followers on Instagram.