Fine Jewelry Brand Aurate Opens on Newbury Street

The New York City-based brand brings ethically sourced, locally designed sparkle to Boston at a reasonable price.


Photo courtesy of Aurate

The world of jewelry can basically be divided into two regions: the land of expensive fine jewelry and the territory of cheap, poorly made, disposable baubles. And often when exploring the more costly plains of gold and diamonds, you’re faced with styles that feel outdated and old fashioned. Sophie Kahn and Bouchra Ezzahraoui have broken new ground with their brand Aurate, which brings stylish, high-quality metals and gemstones that are ethically sourced and made in the U.S., direct to the consumer at a reasonable price. Thanks to the recent opening of a storefront on Newbury Street, the democratic bling is right on our doorstep.

The two women met while attending graduate school, but didn’t launch their business until 2015 after they were both in successful jobs at Marc Jacobs and Goldman Sachs, respectively, and noticed a need in the market for affordable, modern, fine jewelry. They both took a semester at Parsons in N.Y.C. to learn more about accessory design so that they could design the jewelry themselves. Originally the brand was exclusively online, but after a series of successful popups, Kahn and Ezzahraoui decided to open brick and mortars.

“At the end of the day, people still want to touch the product,” says Ezzahraoui. “There is a back and forth now with customers; they go to the store and check out the jewelry and then buy it online, or they check it out online and then come to the store to buy it. Over sixty percent of the most successful e-commerce companies also have a brick and mortar presence. It’s just a new way of doing retail,” explains Ezzahraoui.

The Boston store joins three other locations, two in New York and one in D.C. As a testament to Aurate’s philosophy, all of the jewelry on display is out and not locked in display cases, so interested parties can actually try everything on without the need for high security and silk gloves. Some of the bestsellers are the Circle Ring with diamonds ($750), the Gold Bar necklace ($250) and the gold Inverse Cuff ($220). Because everything is made in New York, each piece can be customized and engraved. If you need another justification to shop Aurate, the brand has teamed up with Mastery Charter to donate a book for each piece of jewelry that’s purchased. So get out there and brave this new, sparkly world.

Aurate is located at 123 Newbury Street and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. See more information at auratenewyork.com.

Photo courtesy of Aurate