Anna (25) started her own jewelry brand, Naecre, just before Corona kicked in. Today, we sell her jewelry in our online concept store MAE. Anna told us more about her unique brand and the story behind it during our IG live session.
1. Have you always been this entrepreneurial? How did your story start?
"I'm Anna, 25 years old and I'm studying law. I've always had the idea to start something, but never took the step. It was usually a fantasy or an idea that came up in conversation with friends. I'm glad I finally took the step now. "
2. Where did the name Naecre come from?
"I started searching on google for an original name. That's how I came up with Nacre, which literally means Mother of Pearl. That seemed perfect for my jewelry brand. To get the domain name, I changed it to 'Naecre'."
3. Did you think about the idea of starting a jewelry brand for a long time?
"No actually not. I chose a non-creative study, while I am actually a very creative person. For example, I have always done drawing school. Because I can't use my creativity in my studies, I thought it would be fun to start something besides my studies. Making jewelry seemed fun!"
4. Did you learn to make the jewelry all by yourself?
"Yes, I learned how to make jewelry by myself through YouTube videos, because I had no experience. It has been a long process to learn everything and I am still learning. For example, I recently had a collaboration to design jewelry for an exhibition. For this, I had to start working out more special designs, which was a new challenge for me."
5. How do you start the design of your jewelry?
"I sketch the jewels first, but often I also come up with new ideas when I am actually making the jewelry. I always work with freshwater pearls and they are very beautiful by themselves, which makes it easy to create beautiful combinations. The pearls are also very unique, you will never find two the same. "
6. What other materials do you use in your designs? How do you search for these materials?
"I always use goldplated brass and freshwater pearls. In the beginning, I sold the jewelry at a low price to my friends to test the materials. There were some that discolored so I started looking for better materials. Eventually I found the right ones, which I still test regularly by soaking them in water. The quality of the jewelry is very good, I also sell them in bridal stores and I fortunately have never had any complaints. "
7. Has corona had an impact on your business?
"For me it was more of an advantage because I had more time to figure everything out so it was an opportunity to start this business. In addition to designing and making the jewelry, a lot of time is spent on other tasks such as maintaining the website, taking photos, etc. I do all of that myself and thanks to corona, I was able to combine everything better. "
8. What are your future plans with Naecre - will you launch new collections?
"I'm very busy at the moment with my thesis, which will take another month. After that I'll get back to it. The jewelry will also be sold on Zalando soon, but first the photos have to be prefect and that takes some time. There will also be another expo in May with some more unique items. For the winter I would like to make a new collection with black pearls. It is important that the items are timeless because it is an investment piece that you will be able to wear for a very long time. "
9. What is your favorite item in the collection?
"I am very much a fan of the Ellen earrings because of the asymmetry in the design, Marie I also really like, which is the finer version of Ellen."
Thank you Anna for the lovely conversation. We are very happy to work with you. Always nice to work with unique Belgian brands that have a beautiful story to tell. Thank you.
Shop the collection here.
