The suspect allegedly stole almost $800,000 worth of diamond jewelry from a store in Orlando and then swallowed it during a traffic stop.
The Jewelry ABCs with Marla Aaron
The designer discusses her new collection and her epic London Fashion Week collaboration.

The New York City-based jewelry designer has found success by building her eponymous jewelry brand completely outside of traditional jewelry industry norms.
Her predominant design concept—a fine jewelry version of a carabiner that allows for infinite styling variations when mixed and matched with other locks, charms and chains, and which has garnered a legion of devoted fans—is itself an entirely unconventional piece of jewelry, combining functionality and utility with luxury.
Since her 2012 launch, the designer has developed a solid roster of retail accounts (Ylang 23 in Texas and Meter in San Francisco, among others) with an emphasis on independent companies over department stores and larger retailers.

“We’re so careful with the distribution,” she told me when I recently visited her new Diamond District showroom (more on that later). “We’re not sold in department stores. We want the stores that we’re with to go deep in the collection.”
Aaron has an uncanny ability to cultivate an authentic brand identity that continuously innovates and excites its customers while staying true to its essence, basically what every brand is trying to achieve in 2019.
This sense of who Aaron is as both person and company—she is irreverent and self-deprecating, yet substantive and classic—permeates the brand’s every pore, down to the staff photos on its website. Portraits with favorite foods? Genius.
“I think [jewelry] is an industry that’s struggling and you have to be willing to try new things,” she said. “Everything we do is an experiment.”
This fall, the designer unveiled a series of new projects and endeavors to entice her fan base, the most significant of which product-wise is the Alphabet Collection.
Marla Aaron locks, which have included different shapes over the years, from hearts to lightning bolts, have undergone their most serious makeover yet, now available in every letter of the alphabet.

Aaron teased the arrival of the alphabet locks at London Fashion Week in September, where “R” and “M” locks floated down the runway on the necks of Roland Mouret models.
The relationship between the two began, as they tend to do these days, when Mouret slid into Aaron’s DMs on Instagram. They had never met, but the fashion legend was a fan of Aaron’s work.
In February this year they met in London and the beginning of a collaboration bloomed, with Mouret asking Aaron to participate in his spring/summer 2020 runway show.
“In the first meeting he said, ‘I don’t want you to do anything special. I just want you to do what you do and bring it to my show,’” Aaron recalled.
Mouret had come equipped with Instagram images of women wearing Aaron’s designs, wanting to channel their same thrown-on, individual style.
“He wanted it to feel effortless and that they were carrying their emotions with the jewelry,” she explained.
The designers exchanged ideas, sketches and swatches in the months to come and Aaron was inspired to create new pieces.
“I can’t tell you how amazed I am at the generosity of Roland because when someone like that comes into your universe, it forces you to try new things and invariably new things happen,” she said.
Mouret loved Aaron’s Fordite (a material created from the car paint found on automobile factory floors, like the Ford factory in Detroit) pieces, for example. She created “supersized” Fordite and jasper disk earrings to make a serious runway impact ($1,200 to $2,000).
Then, she began imagining them as charms that could be attached to her locks. So she created “The Working Dot” ($575 in 18-karat gold), a piece that converts all of the earrings in her collection into charms.

As the show approached, Mouret informed Aaron that not all of the models cast would have pierced ears. So Aaron dreamed up “The Pierce-less Earring,” ($880 in 14-karat gold) a clip-on style sold individually that can be placed anywhere on the ear.
Aaron and a member of her team were on hand at the show and in the days leading up to it to assist with the styling efforts, led by 10 Magazine’s Sophia Neophitou. The stylist piled on the jewels, combining various chains and locks with the new Fordite and jasper earring-cum-pendants courtesy of The Working Dot, plus The Pierce-less Earring.
On the home front, Aaron’s also taken a baby step into retail.
Beginning this month, customers can make an appointment to visit the Marla Aaron New York City showroom to interact with the jewelry in person.
“I think it’s a really ideal scenario for people to come play with our jewelry,” she said, noting that customers were responding “really well” to the idea.
The Latest

Ahead of the Gem Awards on Friday, Jen Cullen Williams and Duvall O’Steen share pro tips for taking the best photos.

Founded in 2000, Marco Bicego is commemorating its milestone anniversary with a “25 Best” collection and campaigns honoring its heritage.

Supplier Spotlight Sponsored by GIA

Those attending the company’s upcoming Zoom workshop will receive early access to “The List,” its new resource for finding buyers.


The organization will present an award to Amy-Elise Signeavsky, law enforcement and diamond recovery manager at GIA.

Chandler started his jewelry career at Michelson Jewelers, joining the Diamond Council of America as president and CEO in 2001.

Natural diamonds mean more than lab-grown, but when every cut is ideal, they all look the same. Customers want more—Facets of Fire delivers.

Scottish American designer Maeve Gillies collaborated with Platinum Guild International on jewelry created by direct metal 3D printing.

Ahead of its trade show in May, TJS awarded free registration and accommodations to five up-and-coming jewelry industry professionals.

The 2025 Gem Awards are set to take place Friday at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.

The annual star-studded campaign for International Women’s Day encourages collective action against domestic violence.

The statement piece is seen in Yeprem’s new “You Play the Game” campaign, created for International Women’s Day.

Longtime employee Kyle Slosson has been promoted to the role.

First-generation jewelers Dan and Hope Wixon are retiring and will close their Minneapolis-area jewelry store in May.

The limited-edition collection, a nod to the Year of the Snake, is Ukrainian brand Guzema’s first partnership with a U.S. brand.

After more than 50 years, Jeff Roberts is handing over ownership of the organization to IJO President Stephen Barnes.

Senior Jeweler Jay Wolff was named employee of the year.

The 111-year-old store will close following a dispute among Saks Global, a landlord, and the City of Dallas over a small piece of land.

The upcoming “Area_51” watch sale is a collaboration with heist-out, featuring vintage and modern timepieces with futuristic designs.

The trade organization, which will mark 120 years of service next year, has a refined focus and a new mission statement.

The application period is now open for established and emerging jewelers and metalsmiths to apply to the month-long residency program.

Uc Thí Vo, who co-owned Kim Tin Jewelry in Sacramento with her husband of 40 years, was killed during the November 2024 robbery.

Manashe Sezanayev pleaded guilty to grand larceny and is expected to receive five years’ probation when he’s sentenced in May.

The March birthstone pairs perfectly with hues of Mocha Mousse, Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2025.

Emmanuel Raheb shares strategies to prepare for, publicize, and engage the audience during events on platforms like TikTok and Zoom.

Originally slated to take effect in April, official U.S. Customs and Border Protection documents now show the implementation date as “TBD.”