CollectionsDec 05, 2025
Piece of the Week: Robinson Pelham’s ‘Tsar Star’ EarringsThe new pink sapphire version of the piece dances with its wearer in the brand’s “Icons After Dark” holiday campaign.
EditorsOct 16, 2019
The Jewelry ABCs with Marla Aaron
The designer discusses her new collection and her epic London Fashion Week collaboration.
This week, Marla Aaron launched her new Alphabet Lock Collection. Locks are available in two sizes. A small 14-karat gold version sells for $1,675, while a large silver and 14-karat gold version sells for $1,200.
If, as common industry discourse dictates, the jewelry sector is hopelessly stuck in its ways, averse to change, doesn’t understand millennials or is engaged in an unsustainable retail model, no one bothered to inform Marla Aaron.
The New York City-based jewelry designer has found success by building her eponymous jewelry brand completely outside of traditional jewelry industry norms.
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.
Ditto with Aaron’s approach to selling.
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.
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.
Marla Aaron’s new alphabet lock is pictured alongside a Fordite lock at the Roland Mouret Spring/Summer 2020 runway show during London Fashion Week, held in September.
“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.”
She’s also come up with entirely new jewelry retail concepts, like selling her wares in a vending machine set in various New York City locations.
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 was inspired by the 20th-century Bauhaus art movement “where beauty and industry came together,” as well as the rise of androgynous style in fashion. She drew the typeface herself and perfected the 26 styles, which come in two sizes, over the summer.
Available this week, small locks are available in 14-karat gold for $1,675 and large versions are rendered in silver with a 14-karat gold closure for $1,200. Clients can have them entirely in 14- or 18-karat gold (or either size in platinum) by special order.
B is for bagel. Aaron launched the Alphabet locks with this social media campaign.
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.
Aaron was still high off the experience when I met her just a couple of weeks later, wearing an intricately pleated white button-down shirt by the designer.
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.
Aaron’s jasper disk earring on the Roland Mouret runway
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.
Two of the new “Pierce-less” earrings on the Roland Mouret runway, alongside a bevy of Marla Aaron chains and locks.
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.
More on Editors
The Latest
TrendsDec 05, 2025
Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2026 Is … WhiteA choice that’s generated a lot of commentary, Pantone says “Cloud Dancer” marks a fresh start and encourages relaxation and creativity.
MajorsDec 05, 2025
Stuller Releases ‘Wrapped in Wonder’ CampaignThe manufacturer’s holiday campaign features a gift guide filled with trending designs and jewelry that can be personalized.
Brought to you by
Impacting Tomorrow TodayHow Jewelers of America’s 20 Under 40 are leading to ensure a brighter future for the jewelry industry.
CrimeDec 04, 2025
Man Arrested After Allegedly Swallowing Fabergé Egg PendantThe man was charged with theft, accused of ingesting the necklace while in a jewelry store in Auckland, New Zealand.
Weekly QuizDec 04, 2025
This Week’s QuizTest your jewelry news knowledge by answering these questions.
IndependentsDec 04, 2025
Step Inside JR Dunn Jewelers’ Giant New Store The Florida independent expanded its store from 8,000 to 14,000 square feet, fulfilling the vision of its late co-founder, Jim Dunn.
Supplier BulletinDec 04, 2025
Introducing Shop Natural Day: A New Movement Celebrating Natural DiamondsSponsored by De Beers Group
Brought to you by
Roseco Releases New Full-Line CatalogRoseco’s 704-page catalog showcases new lab-grown diamonds, findings, tools & more—available in print or interactive digital editions.
WatchesDec 04, 2025
Casio Shrinks its G-Shock WatchThe classic 5600 series G-Shock has been scaled down to about a tenth of its size, becoming a fully functioning watch ring.
Events & AwardsDec 04, 2025
AGA Announces 2026 Tucson Speaker LineupThe association’s annual conference and gala will take place Feb. 4, 2026, during the Tucson gem shows.
Events & AwardsDec 04, 2025
CBG Announces Speaker Lineup for 2026 Miami Event The January show will include a workshop for jewelry retailers on implementing AI to strengthen their businesses.
TrendsDec 03, 2025
Miley Cyrus Debuts Edgy Engagement RingFellow musician Maxx Morando proposed to the star with a chunky, cushion-cut diamond ring designed by Jacquie Aiche.
Policies & IssuesDec 03, 2025
Costco Joins Growing Wave of Retailers Suing for Tariff Refunds The retailer, which sells billions in fine jewelry and watches, is suing the Trump administration and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
SurveysDec 03, 2025
A Record 202.9M Shoppers Turned Out Thanksgiving WeekendBlack Friday is still the most popular shopping day over the five-day holiday weekend, as per the National Retail Federation’s survey.
AuctionsDec 03, 2025
Fabergé’s 'The Winter Egg' Achieves Record $30MThe historic egg, crafted for Russia's ruling family prior to the revolution, was the star of Christie’s recent auction of works by Fabergé.
FinancialsDec 02, 2025
Signet Jewelers’ Q3 Sales Up Amid Continued Focus on Lower Price PointsThe retailer offered more fashion jewelry priced under $1,000, including lab-grown diamond and men’s jewelry.
CollectionsDec 02, 2025
Briony Raymond Introduces First FragranceThe eau de parfum is held in a fluted glass bottle that mirrors the decor of the brand’s atelier, and its cap is a nod to its “Sloan” ring.
SourcingDec 02, 2025
Petra Diamonds Elevates Interim CEOs to Permanent StatusVivek Gadodia and Juan Kemp, who’ve been serving as interim co-CEOs since February, will continue to lead the diamond mining company.
MajorsDec 02, 2025
Lee Krombholz Takes Over as Chair of MJSA Education FoundationIn addition, a slate of new officers and trustees were appointed to the board.
IndependentsDec 02, 2025
RJO Welcomes Its 1,200th Retail MemberWitt’s Jewelry in Wayne, Nebraska, is the organization’s new milestone member.
SourcingDec 02, 2025
Brendan Laurs Honored With 2025 Bonanno AwardLaurs is the editor-in-chief of Gem-A’s The Journal of Gemmology and an expert on the formation of colored gemstone deposits.
CrimeDec 01, 2025
Fourth Man Charged in Louvre Jewelry HeistThe man, who has a criminal history, is suspected of being the fourth member of the four-man crew that carried out the heist.
AuctionsDec 01, 2025
Christie’s Presents ‘Splendor & Style’ CollectionThe single-owner collection includes one of the largest offerings of Verdura jewels ever to appear at auction, said Christie’s.
IndependentsDec 01, 2025
Lustig Jewelers’ New Owner Is a Fellow Chicago JewelerMichael Helfer has taken the reins, bringing together two historic Chicago jewelry names.
MajorsDec 01, 2025
PGI Debuts Platinum-Filled Holiday Gift GuideThe guide features all-new platinum designs for the holiday season by brands like Harwell Godfrey, Ritani, and Suna.
FinancialsNov 26, 2025
Movado CEO Talks Tariffs, Growing Interest in Accessible Luxury WatchesDuring its Q3 call, CEO Efraim Grinberg discussed the deal to lower tariffs on Swiss-made watches, watch market trends, and more.
TrendsNov 26, 2025
Piece of the Week: Rosior’s Pumpkin RingRosior’s high jewelry cocktail ring with orange sapphires and green diamonds is the perfect Thanksgiving accessory.
