To celebrate its 25th anniversary, Reykjavik-based fine jewelry brand Aurum by Guðbjörg expanded its flagship store and debuted a new collection that honors the jeweler’s connection to the culture and people of Iceland.
The new store is an expansion on the site of its existing retail location, but it doubled in size during the renovation as Aurum acquired the adjoining boutique and took over that space. Aurum co-founder and head designer Guðbjörg Kristín Ingvarsdóttir conceived and designed the store’s concept, and its huge new picture windows along the front are her dream space for displaying Aurum’s jewelry.
The store also includes a larger sales area and a redesign of the brand’s in-house atelier, where all of Aurum’s jewelry is designed and made. The design highlights the colors found in the Icelandic landscape, creating an intimate yet contemporary interior.
“I am so pleased with the result and I like how the area looks exclusive and different. For me, each piece of my jewelry is a work of art, and I hope by creating the feeling of a gallery, it will allow our visitors to get to know my brand even better,” Ingvarsdóttir says.
Each jewelry collection now has its own space, and there are displays for the brand’s signature silver pieces as well as its custom work. Aurum also added a digital display so the brand can share its newest collaborations and latest collections.
“We also made a new area where our customers can have a quiet moment and privacy to choose their wedding and engagement rings and to get our goldsmith’s advice on their designs,” Ingvarsdóttir says. “This has been a dream of mine to be able to make our bridal and bespoke jewelry service for our customers even better.”
Having a physical store has always been important to Aurum, as its most loyal customers tend to learn about the brand by first visiting the boutique when traveling to Iceland, Ingvarsdóttir says.
“The storytelling of our brand comes alive when the customer visits our physical store and they meet with us, and experience Iceland,” Ingvarsdóttir says. “I want them to feel the story behind my jewelry collections and they can physically see my inspiration behind my designs when they explore Iceland, its natural landscape, its people, and the flora and fauna.”
The Alvör collection is Ingvarsdóttir’s tribute to the natural beauty of the Westfjords with its awe-inspiring mountains and the dazzling landscape around Bolungarvik, where she grew up.
The collection’s patterns and geometric shapes are designed to reflect Iceland’s seafaring and fishing heritage, Ingvarsdóttir says. Each piece ties back to the mountainous landscape as well as the woven fishing nets and angular shape of the salt houses and drying sheds in her home country.
“This is where my roots and the roots of my ancestors are,” Ingvarsdóttir says. “Growing up there with these magnificent mountains, history, landscapes, and contrasts in nature all around me has given me so much inspiration for the design of the new jewelry line Alvör.”
Aurum was co-founded in 1999 by Ingvarsdóttir as head goldsmith and designer and her husband, Karl Jóhann Jóhannsson, MBA. The name stands for Ambition, Understanding, Responsibility, Unity, and Mindfulness.
This anniversary year has been a busy one for Aurum as well with special jewelry commissions from two unusual places. Fans of streaming shows such as Netflix’s The Witcher: Blood Origin and gamers who play Microsoft’s Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II might recognize Ingvarsdóttir’s work, as she designed jewelry inspired by both.
Top: Aurum recently opened a larger flagship boutique in honor of its 25th anniversary as a fine jewelry brand (photos courtesy of Aurum).
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