Moonglow Jewelry: Interview with Founders Aurelie and Julien

Moonglow Jewelry truly shines. Crafted with fine materials, the moon-shaped pieces glow in the dark after exposure to sunlight, similar to the Earth’s moon. The brand seeks to raise awareness about moon phases and every individual person’s moon sign and they do this by producing truly modern, elegant, regale-looking rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Each piece is designed with abstract flair and, when exposed to the sun, the moon portion glow in the dark. The effect is nothing short of stunning which makes this jewelry incredibly unique and extremely collectible.

Moonglow Jewelry was founded by Julien Plouffe and Aurelie Dudziak who started the brand as a way to celebrate being alive. They recently discussed their experiences at the helm of the company via an exclusive interview.

Meagan Meehan (MM): How did you initially get interested in jewelry design and what inspired you to start Moonglow?

Aurelie: When we started Moonglow we were working with artist Luc Rouleau who created the first few jewelry designs and a few more over the years. As Moonglow evolved, so did my vision of our jewelry line. I started creating designs around the original pieces that were already available and getting more involved in the design process and selection. As of this year I started entirely creating brand new designs that are our own and are based on trends, customer’s feedback, inspiration from our team and exploring my own creativity and taste for creating beautiful things! As I was having my first experience selling Moonglow to consumers, the realization that this was something special came quick and we officially founded Moonglow as a company with the vision that every single person on Earth has a special moment they want to remember and could own a piece of Moonglow as a precious reminder of that moment (or person).

Julien: I initially became interested in Moonglow when I sold it for the first time in 2011 at a fair in Massachusetts. I would meet people who we’re very sentimental about their moonphase or would be sentimental looking up someone else’s moonphases that means a lot to them. I knew this product was something way more special than a piece of jewelry

MM: These pieces are so unique, fancy, and they literally glow! How long did it take for you to find the proper material — and craftspeople — to create these?

Aurelie: These pieces are indeed very unique and crafted in a way that any other jewelry is. The idea was to showcase your special moon phase in a beautiful yet fashionable way suitable for jewelry. The entire process of selecting the materials had to go through a lot of experimenting and testing. But we are constantly reviewing our process and looking to refine the quality of our pieces.

Julien: They are mostly designed by one of our three designers who hand finish all pieces.

MM: How did you establish the Moonglow company and how have you kept it afloat?

Julien: We started Moonglow in 2012. When I first started, it was tough as we’re only doing events and cash was limited. At one point, I had to finance my car to keep things afloat. As things grew, we used lines of credit to keep things afloat.

MM: How do you decide on the styles and patterns of your jewelry? For instance, how many designers do you work with?

Aurelie: We work with three designers and the decisions on the styles are mainly either based on customer’s feedback, different ideas coming from the Moonglow team or simple creative ideas from the designers.

MM: What are the top sellers so far?

Aurelie: Ou Classic necklace and our Charmed Simplicity have been our top sellers for a while now but we are starting to release more collections and most of our recently released Celestial Muse collection pieces have quickly become great sellers.

Julien: We have three pieces that sell very well but our newest pieces are starting to climb up the charts.

MM: Do you have a favorite piece? If so, which one and why?

Aurelie: My new favorite piece is our new Cosmic Spiral ring. It has an elegant design, comes in three different finishes and is fully adjustable.

Julien: I wear the Lunar Essence; it was limited edition but still one of my favorites.

MM: What’s the coolest fan feedback you’ve gotten?

Aurelie: We hear a lot of great stories and receive many compliments in our weekly customer reviews but the best feedback to us is when the customer had the best experience from start to finish, meaning they loved the ordering process, our customer service, the delivery and of course the product itself. We love our customers to be happy.

Julien: We read every single review every week. I think the coolest one was someone speaking about how the date they picked is when they divorced someone really toxic and this date meant so much because they’re now free and starting their life for themselves.

MM: Can you tell us about the new “pink” collection? Might other colors follow?

Aurelie: The new Pink Moon collection was originally designed to honor Breast Cancer Awareness month in October but not exclusively. We will keep offering pink moon products beyond this time and have officially selected a Pink moon piece (Our Skylight necklace in Pink) to continue giving back and supporting the Pink Fund association. Since the launch we have had many requests for more colors and intend on exploring more options for future products.

Julien: We definitely want other colors. Who doesn’t love color?

MM: How do you hope to see the Moonglow brand evolve in the near future?

Julien: We are working with great retailers, forming relationships with celebrities and influencers. We are always focused on the customer experience. Aurelie and the design team are coming out with amazing pieces next year.

MM: What has been the highlight of your career as a jewelry designer so far?

Aurelie: As being part of designing our new pieces myself, I would say the most rewarding thing has been that people have been responding really positively to the recent innovation we’ve brought to our line and it encourages us even more to come up with more amazing products for our amazing customers.

Julien: I’m not a designer, I oversee sales, marketing and finance but I do give my opinion sometimes on the pieces.

MM: What is coming up next for you and is there anything else that you would like to mention?

Julien: Next for us is dropping several collections per year, working with our retail partners and encouraging the shop small movement.

* * * * * *

To learn more, visit the official website: https://www.moonglow.com/