Dutch jewellery brand My Jewellery celebrates 15 years: from attic-room idea to international brand
My Jewellery is celebrating its 15th anniversary. Founded by Sharon Hilgers in 2011, the jewellery and fashion brand has grown from a webshop into an international player with 65 boutiques across the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France, more than 1,000 employees and over 650 premium retail partners across Europe. Hilgers’ story is proof that dreams really do come true: what began as a small idea has grown into a female-founded brand built on creativity, ambition and empowerment.
To mark the milestone, FashionUnited spoke to Lisanne Vuik, PR and influencer coordinator, and Thom Timmer, head of business development, about the brand’s growth, its international ambitions and the road ahead.
From workshop to global brand
Hilgers began by selling her first designs at workshops and markets, turning to social media early on to build visibility long before the brand opened its first physical store in ’s-Hertogenbosch. Fifteen years on, the brand has a flagship in Paris and continues to open new stores across Europe as it enters its next phase of growth.
“I started My Jewellery with nothing but passion, power and a drive to build something meaningful,” says Hilgers. “Building this company from the ground up and watching it grow into an international brand has been a dream come true.”
Jewellery as part of a wider lifestyle
My Jewellery doesn’t want to be seen purely as a jewellery label, Timmer stresses. “Jewellery is at the core of what we do, but we build a wider lifestyle around it to strengthen the brand experience, and that’s unique in the European market,” he says. Although the brand started out as a purely online player, it is now growing evenly across every channel, from its own boutiques to department stores and travel retail.
The right retail partners, Timmer says, are what he calls ‘hero retailers’: partners who pay as much attention to presentation as the brand itself. “We pay attention to every detail, from the furniture to the colours in the store. We look for partners with the same passion for presenting the story and the product to the consumer.”
A concept that scales across borders
Timmer is confident the brand’s appeal travels well beyond its home market. “The Benelux concept is really scalable and translates easily internationally,” he says. “People understand the products, how we communicate through social media, and how we bring things to market, right down to the packaging.” The first proof of that came when My Jewellery opened its first store outside the Netherlands, in Antwerp, just as Vuik joined the team. She still remembers how nerve-racking that opening felt: “Belgium obviously feels a little different to the Netherlands, but we quickly saw that the love for the brand and the products was just as strong.”
That early success gave the brand the confidence to take the same formula into Germany and France. Its core customer base has stayed consistent throughout: millennials and Gen Z, with growing attention now turning to Gen Alpha.
Community as the foundation
A loyal community doesn’t happen by itself, Vuik stresses. “We invest a lot of time in the community and organise physical events to meet customers in real life.” The brand’s influencer partnerships follow the same philosophy: a mix of paid influencers and unpaid ambassadors who all reflect the same ‘sparkling’ brand DNA.
Timmer also credits the brand’s growth to its strong representation of women: 85 percent of the team and 75 percent of leadership roles are held by women, a result he puts down to organic growth, hard work and entrepreneurship. Hilgers hopes the brand can inspire a new generation of female entrepreneurs. “For me, this isn’t just about my own journey,” she says. “It’s proof of what female entrepreneurship can achieve when you commit to it fully, and I hope it inspires more women to build something of their own.”
Anniversary week, iconic collection and the road ahead
The 15th anniversary is being marked with a full week of celebrations centred on the community. Alongside physical events, My Jewellery is launching the ‘Icon Creator’, a tool that lets customers design their own piece of jewellery, with the most-voted design going into production and joining the line-up. Hilgers also features in a video looking back on 15 years of entrepreneurship.
The brand is also releasing an iconic collection of long-running bestsellers: the ‘Candy Couture’ necklace has been a top-ten staple for years, joined by the ‘Forever Connected’ line and the ‘Mother & Daughter’ bracelet.
Looking ahead, My Jewellery is aiming for 100 stores across Europe, with continued growth in travel retail and premium partnerships as key pillars. The organisation, from warehouse and IT infrastructure to head office, is already set up to support that next stage, says Timmer. For Vuik, the community should remain the foundation the brand builds on, with Hilgers’ story continuing to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs.