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ewelry store owners with a flair for the creative and a deep understanding of their brands have the opportunity for originality when considering what to name their businesses. As Matthew Patton, owner of Cut Fine in Baton Rouge, LA, put it, “We didn’t need another Family Name Fine Jewelers.”

Design and digital marketing firm Back40 offers these suggestions for brainstorming a memorable name: Make a list of keywords that can spark more ideas, then mix and match favorite words. Choose a name that’s simple to spell and say and not too specific or narrow that it could hamper marketing efforts down the line. A forceful and creative name helps attract customers’ attention and earns respect. Here are a handful of examples and the stories behind the names.

Balefire Goods

Arvada, CO

In a past career, Balefire Goods owner Jamie Hollier worked as a technology entrepreneur. Balefire was pitched as a product name to one of her clients, who opted for something else. When Hollier shifted gears to retail jewelry in 2017, she claimed the name, which had always appealed to her, for her jewelry gallery. “A balefire is a large bonfire used as a signal fire or beacon,” she says. “This idea of a large fire that could communicate across large distances seemed like a cool idea for a jewelry and art brand, like each of these pieces in our collection, many of them forged in fire, can be a beacon that fosters communication and understanding across people.”

Pistachios

Chicago

Pistachios was well established when employee Jessica Armstrong took over the gallery in 2018. “As far as the name goes, we’ve always been told that the founder wanted to give an extra little gift with purchase as a thank you, and she was a big fan of pistachios!” says manager Isabella Aimone. For 30 years, customers have received a small bag of nuts with every purchase. “It makes new clients smile and spouses are especially excited about the snack,” Aimone says. “It’s funny because a lot of wives come in for the first time get the nuts and comment, “Well this is new!” when we all know the husband ate the pistachios before they could make it home … ha!”

Amanda Deer

Austin, TX 

Amanda Deer is an omnichannel retail jeweler that got its start online and opened a physical location only after the business was established. The name came down to online appeal, says owner Amanda Eddy. “I wanted something spicier than my last name,” she says. “So, I started thinking of different words and ‘Deer’ seemed to fit. I knew we could come up with a fun logo, and most importantly, the URL was available.”

BRAVO JewelLers

Carlsbad, CA

When the Notovich family moved to the United States from Israel in 2000, they brought along a family background in jewelry. When brothers Edward Notovich, a gemologist, and Eugene Notovich, a CAD designer, prepared to launch their own jewelry business years later, they collected and restored equipment and stored it in their basement. They called their fledgling business Basement Designs, a name they soon decided was unsuitable for the image they wanted to project. Bravo’s meaning in Hebrew is similar to the English meaning and fit the retail store they designed and opened in 2016 to wow their customers and create the kind of singular experience that makes jewelry more valuable to shoppers. “If the presentation and environment is not that nice, the product loses its value,” Edward says. “But with a great presentation and a great experience, there’s no reason to go to another jeweler.”

Once Upon a Diamond

Shreveport, LA

Although Once Upon a Diamond is owned by three members of the Brown family, founder Steve Brown and his sons, Jordan and Nicholas, didn’t want to be known as Brown Jewelers. They wanted something different that’s also easy to remember online. Focusing on fine jewelry and rare collectibles, founder Steve Brown wanted the name to evoke a special feeling or fantasy. “Once Upon A Diamond was born to remind everyone of their personal fairy tale and that maybe a piece of it could be found in the store,” says Jordan.

Rock + Feather

Santa Fe

When Belle Brooke Barer moved her eponymous gallery across Canyon Road in 2020, she also renamed it. ROCK + FEATHER highlights the earthly and the ethereal nature of art itself. Rock brings us closer to the earth and Feather connects us with the sky. “This connection we embody is grounded here on Earth with gravity and the physical form of rock and reaches up toward the sky through the feather’s shaft, infinitely beyond what we can see and comprehend,” she explains. “With art, we can allow for the transmutation of these otherworldly experiences into tangible images and forms for the physical world.” ROCK + FEATHER houses the Belle Brooke jewelry collection with the workshop on the premises, as well as the work of contemporary female artists working and living in New Mexico.

Peridot Fine Jewelry

Larchmont, NY

Dawn Hendricks, owner of Peridot Fine Jewelry, chose the name Peridot in 2002 when colored gem stone jewelry seemed to be a hot “new” trend and young studio designers were working with moonstones, paraiba tourmalines, multi–colored sapphires and of course, peridots, set in 18K and 20K gold matte finishes. The jewelry was intriguing and unique, but less serious. “There were suddenly options besides the classic dark blue sapphire, for example, that now might be spotted in periwinkle blue,” she says. “Or maybe you’d prefer a kyanite or a tanzanite?! So we sought a name with one of these “new” stones and we loved the sound of Peridot. It felt sophisticated and yet playful. And we loved that many people did not even know what peridot was!”

Onyx II Fine Jewelers

Watertown, CT

Onyx II Fine Jewelers was founded in 1970 in Waterbury, CT, by current owner Daniel Sanchez’s grandparents, who fled communist Cuba in 1962. Daniel’s grandmother, Zenaida Perez, worked in a sewing factory at first and then began purchasing jewelry in New York that she sold door to door quite successfully. When she opened the store in Waterbury with just one jewelry case, her husband Higinio wanted to name it Onyx for his favorite gemstone, rather than giving it a family name. The family opened a satellite location in 1996 in Watertown, CT, Onyx II, which soon became the sole location. Daniel took over the store officially in 2005.

Brax Jewelers

Newport Beach, CA

Owner Amy Astaraee, a native of Iran, had considered naming her retail jewelry business Astaraee, to honor her father, but a friend told her that it would be too hard to pronounce or remember. Instead, the friend suggested “Brax,” a random word that was simple and catchy. She decided to try it. Later, she learned that Brax was also a European clothing chain, but she was able to trademark the name in the United States. “We take the time to get to know our customers and I believe that’s what really sets the Brax experience apart from other jewelers,” says Astaraee, who caters to female shoppers and built a collectors’ club around the term “Brax Girl.”

WEND

Seattle

At first glance, WEND Jewelry may be assumed to be a play on owner Wendy Woldenberg’s name, but there’s more depth to it than that. WEND was named for the meandering path that founder Wendy Woldenberg has followed in her career as well as the journey her clients take. “WEND” is related to the verb “wind,” which means, among other things, to follow a series of curves and turns. “People from different paths, some who wander off the beaten track, have finally found what they’ve been searching for at WEND Jewelry,” says Woldenberg, whose career path as a teacher and jewelry designer motivated her to develop responsible practices for jewelry design and to open her own gallery.

Art + Adornment

Chicago

Victoria Langhoff’s interest in the historical roots of adornment inspired the name of her retail jewelry business. “I wanted to select a name that sheds light on the history of jewelry, which is ‘adornment,’ as well as the ‘theory’ portion that is the practice that artists have in studios,” says Langhoff says. “From the beginning of civilization, we find that cultures made currency and jewelry and adornment. I want to highlight the history and continuation of that into contemporary studios all around the world. We draw on aesthetics from many different artists: feminine, edgy, approachable and most important, wearable.”

Fiat Lux

San Francisco

“Fiat Lux” is Latin for “let there be light.” It’s about radical transparency and education, as well as the permanence and impermanence of light, says owner Maria McCarthy. “We’ve always been open with facts and education about jewelry, even doing workshops with our clients to help them to better understand the medium. Our logo is the eye radiating knowledge.”

Raintree

Burlington, VT

Shannon Mahoney grew up on a farm called Raintree in Pennsylvania horse country. The name is a tribute to Shannon’s father, who died when she was just 3, killed when a tornado struck the farm. Mahoney and her husband, Michael Tope, own the store, where they have designed and made all of their cases, fixtures and the storefront, as well as their jewelry. They’re also skilled jewelry photographers.

Wear Your Grace

Santa Fe, NM

Hillary Randolph designed her Santa Fe store based on her aesthetic sense of what grace looks and feels like — warm and inviting with a dash of elegant simplicity. Randolph takes a creative approach to exploring the nuanced meanings of grace as the theme for her brand and her Santa Fe store, Wear Your Grace. Her jewelry emphasizes graceful flowing movement. Choosing grace as her theme triggers conversations and builds meaningful rapport with clients, she says, who share what grace means in their own lives. Naming her brand Grace was spontaneous, personal, and about changes she wanted to make in her life. But she didn’t anticipate all the connections and offshoots that the name makes possible—like calling her philanthropic program “Share with Grace” or creating a line of leather dog leashes and collars equipped with metal accents that read, “Sit in Grace,” “Stay in Grace,” and “Walk with Grace.”

Atelier D’ Emotion

Soho, New York

Atelier D’Emotion doesn’t have a corporate structure, says owner Alice Sundbom, but is based on human, friendly interaction. Her philosophy? “Be genuine, don’t sell anything you are not absolutely passionate about, be human and warm, try to make every interaction a memorable experience and people will come back.” It also appeals to the emotions through the senses. Shoppers are invited to shop for select perfume inter inventory, along with the gems, and explore how they relate to one another.

Cut Fine

Baton Rouge, LA

The name Cut Fine gives owner Matthew Patton the opportunity to educate customers about the importance of cut when assessing a diamond’s quality. He also likes the simple and concise nature of the name, “CUT.” “We didn’t need another Family Name Fine Jewelers,” he says. The logo for Cut Fine won a gold award from the American Advertising Federation for its graphic design, which lends a modern, contemporary feel to the store.

Alchemy

Portland, OR

Alchemy, the medieval forerunner of chemistry, originally referred to attempts to convert base metals into gold. It also means a seemingly magical process of transformation or creation. Custom jeweler David Iler of Alchemy, a goldsmith and stone setter, worked with a local design visionary to discover the perfect 18th century look for the logo. The name and the associated logo reflect the store’s style and mission, longing for symbolism and meaning captured in timeless beauty, Iler has said.

Revolution Jewelry Works

Colorado Springs, CO

When Jennifer Farnes launched her business, Revolution Jewelry Works, in Colorado Springs, CO, she wanted to revolutionize how clients perceived jewelry stores. She wanted (and got) a place that would appeal to her: laid-back, open and casual, with a knowledgeable team focused on custom design. The logo, designed by a friend who is a graphic designer, expresses her revolutionary fervor perfectly, and the arrangement of the letters also spells “LOVE.”

Suka Jewelry

Glen Rock, NY

Jewelry designer Supra Kapur combined the first two letters of her first and last names to come up with Suka Jewelry, a memorable choice and one that reflects the deeply personal nature of her business. Jewelry designs and collections are named for trailblazing women from around the world. Her jewelry designs are created using ethically sourced diamonds and gemstones and crafted by artisans in her own workshops in India. And she designed the store itself.

Iris

Chicago

The name IRIS is “in honor” of the fact that Jesse Dobbs, has a tear in the iris of his right eye. Iris, a piercing studio that specializes in fine jewelry, has locations in Portland, Denver, Boulder, Salt Lake City, Chicago and Brooklyn, NY. The Iris logo is sophisticated and simple with a sans serif font. But the modification to the letter R shows that they’re still being creative and different. “And ultimately, that’s what their brand is about,” says store designer Scott Truitt. “It doesn’t have to be in your face to be different and to be noticeable.”

These 20 Jewelry Stores Know How to Make a Name for Themselves
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These 20 Jewelry Stores Know How to Make a Name for Themselves

ewelry store owners with a flair for the creative and a deep understanding of their brands have the opportunity for originality when considering what to name their businesses. As Matthew Patton, owner of Cut Fine in Baton Rouge, LA, put it, “We didn’t need another Family Name Fine Jewelers.”

Design and digital marketing firm Back40 offers these suggestions for brainstorming a memorable name: Make a list of keywords that can spark more ideas, then mix and match favorite words. Choose a name that’s simple to spell and say and not too specific or narrow that it could hamper marketing efforts down the line. A forceful and creative name helps attract customers’ attention and earns respect. Here are a handful of examples and the stories behind the names.