In an industry built around male gift-givers, Noura Sakkijha has changed the focus — to the wearer.
The Mejuri co-founder and CEO’s jewelry shops and online store now resonate with millions of women — including some of the world’s most powerful.
“It’s typically marketed for men to buy for women,” says the third-generation jewelry maker, whose last name is synonymous with fine jewelry in her native Jordan. “We wanted to create a brand that is anchored on self-purchase — buy yourself the damn diamond.”
After earning a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Jordan, Sakkijha followed her brother to Toronto in 2008, where she pursued a part time MBA at the Ted Rogers School of Management while working at CIBC.
During her studies, Sakkijha met her future husband and business partner Majed, with whom she collaborated on a business plan for a company that crowdsourced jewelry designs.
The idea earned top prize at TMU’s Slaight New Venture Competition, along with $25,000 in seed funding.
But Sakkijha says after graduating and leaving CIBC to work on it full-time from 2013-2014, they found the crowdsourcing idea unsustainable, as it lacked a cohesive brand direction — so they pivoted and relaunched in 2015 as a brand built around the end-wearer.
At the time, new businesses were leveraging the direct-to-consumer model to offer lower prices in industries like fashion and cosmetics, while using online tools to build awareness.
“We wanted to reduce the distance between the customer and us,” Sakkijha says. “Fine jewelry is highly fragmented, and there was an opportunity for a next generation brand to come and take market share at a global level.”
In the decade since Mejuri has fulfilled more than seven million orders online and through its 56 brick-and-mortar stores in Canada, the U.S., Australia and London.
The company employs 700 staff around the world and has had more than three million customers, including Meghan Markle, Oprah, Kate Middleton, Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift.
The Star caught up with Sakkijha at the Mejuri head office in Toronto ahead of its annual Black Friday sale to talk about the company’s founding mission, its efforts to hold the industry to a higher standard, and how skyrocketing gold prices are dictating this season’s jewelry trends.
Did you always want to be an entrepreneur?
Growing up, everybody around me was an entrepreneur, even my cousins, so it kind of felt natural.
I always dreamed of doing something big. I loved the idea of having a factory, and the idea of making things, even as a kid.
Is that why you studied industrial engineering?
I’ve always loved math, I’ve always loved science — I love art too, but I’m not good at it — so engineering made a lot of sense. My brother Masoud studied engineering, and I followed in his footsteps, but did industrial engineering because it sits closer to business.
Why did you move to Canada in 2008?
I’ve always wanted global experience, and my brother was living here, so I thought I’d go somewhere where I have family. I came to Canada to do my MBA, and the idea was to go back after, but then I met my husband and business partner Majed and decided to stay.
How did Mejuri come about?
Majed and I created a business plan for an early version of Mejuri as part of a school project. After graduation I pitched it at the Slaight New Venture Competition and won the top prize of $25,000 in seed funding.
I replaced the part-time MBA with working on Mejuri part-time, while working full-time as a consultant in CIBC’s process engineering department.
At that point the company was based on crowdsourcing — we wanted to empower designers from all over the world — but when we started working on it seriously in 2013, we realized it didn’t work.
Why not?
Because there was no creative direction. I loved the idea of creating a brand, and that takes a lot of consistency, so in 2014 I quit my job, and we pivoted the whole idea.
Instead of empowering designers, we built a brand for women to buy jewelry for themselves, where we could control the experience from end-to-end and ensure quality production. We then relaunched Mejuri in 2015.
What inspired the new direction?
Direct-to-consumer brands, or what I call “next-generation-brands,” were popping up in every vertical — like fashion, leather goods and cosmetics — but there was nothing in jewelry.
If you wanted to buy jewelry it was either super high-end, or costume jewelry, but not much in between. There were some smaller designers, but few major brands.
In 2014, McKinsey valued the industry at $200 billion and projected it would grow to over $400 billion by 2020, but only 20 per cent of fine jewelry sales were branded products, compared to 60 per cent of watches. So, there was an opportunity for a well-branded, next-generation jewelry business to take market share.
It was a moment of, “how can we make fine jewelry accessible?”
I know from my family business it’s typically marketed for men to buy for women, it’s typically a high price point that requires specific purchasing power to access, and you typically put it in a box and wear it on occasion. We wanted to create a brand that is anchored on self-purchase — ‘buy yourself the damn diamond,’ as we say.
That changes how you think about design, about go-to-market, about how you connect with customers.
For example, we introduce new products every Monday, whereas for most brands it’s twice or four time a year. We don’t have glass display cases, because we want people to feel welcome, and we want them to be able to touch the products.
We don’t do wholesale, we go direct to consumers through our stores and website, so we can offer more affordable prices without cutting corners on materials, design or manufacturing.
Many of our stores offer piercing so customers can get pierced with the product they want rather than waiting for it to heal first.
Those are just a few components we brought to the industry that are fresh and modern.
What does ‘Mejuri’ mean?
It doesn’t mean anything. I wish there was a better story, but we made it up. We wanted something that didn’t have meaning yet, so that we could create meaning ourselves.
Lots of celebrities wear Mejuri. Do any standout?
Early in our journey Oprah was in an ad for a different brand wearing our Hoops with Pearls earrings, and that ended up on a billboard in Times Square, so that was a big moment for us.
And then of course Taylor Swift, she wears our Heirloom Ring in Red Garnet, which is very meaningful for her, and she keeps wearing it, which tells you that she really loves it.
Aimee Lou Wood was wearing our Jojo Double Hoops this summer while promoting White Lotus.
We normally don’t collaborate directly with celebrities, but we recently partnered with tennis star Emma Navarro who wears our products both on and off the court, which really demonstrates how fine jewelry can be every day, not just for special occasions.
How does it feel to see the world’s most powerful women wearing your products?
It just confirms that what we’re doing is resonating with these amazing women.
We are all about female empowerment, and these powerful women could have worn super high-end products, but they’ve chosen Majuri. Frankly, I think it also makes them more relatable.
The jewelry industry has a spotty record on ethical sourcing and sustainability. How are you addressing it?
We have only worked with Responsible Jewelry Council certified manufacturers from the start, but as the company grew, we’ve been able to do more.
For example, we’re using certified recycled gold and silver to offset our carbon emissions, and we have a goal to improve our material traceability to ensure ethical sourcing.
We also made a $1.5 million (U.S.) investment in a company called Regeneration which goes to old, orphaned mines in Canada and Alaska and uses innovative techniques to essentially mine gold while restoring the surrounding natural habitat.
Because of that we are the first and only fine jewelry brand to offer something called Salmon Gold, which helps restore former fish habitats through the mining process.
It’s something I’m really proud of because it feels like, as a 10-year-old company, we’re doing things much bigger companies would do.
What are the big trends in jewelry now?
The price of gold is dictating trends right now.
The commodity has doubled in the last two years, so there’s a lot of demand for daintier pieces. We introduced 10 karat gold, recognizing that 14 karats may now be cost prohibitive for certain styles.
We also work with Gold Vermeil, which is a sterling silver plated in 18 karat gold. That has been impacted by the price of gold, but it was already popular because you get an amazing look that’s not as expensive.
Customers are also realizing that gold is an investment, so it’s still popular, but we’re seeing greater appetite for alternatives.
Our philosophy is that no matter the metal, we’re obsessed with design and quality at good prices. We want our customers to feel special whether they’re wearing a $50 product or a $10,000 product.
Where do you hope to take Mejuri from here?
I feel like we’re just getting started.
Mejuri can be a global brand. There have been a ton of amazing international jewelry companies that have proven what’s possible.
We’re expanding heavily in North America, but I think there is potential for us on a global level.
