AUrate
- AUrate, a popular fine-jewelry startup, leveraged its direct-to-consumer model to make what it's calling a "Crowdsource Capsule."
- The Crowdsource Capsule features eight jewelry pieces under $1,000 that were designed using customer feedback, online and in-store shopping data, and insights from multiple focus groups.
- You can shop the eight pieces included in the Crowdsource Capsule below, ranging from $100 bezel rings with your birthstone to $760 for a single Diamond Quadricolor Hoop.
An oft-championed aspect of direct-to-consumer startups is their ability to create tailored products.
Without the bulky machinery of a bloated chain of command, lean teams can gather and interpret data from customers and then translate it into one-on-one conversations and feedback-driven products in real time.
Recently, AUrate used this advantage to create a custom Crowdsource Capsule of fine jewelry. AUrate, if you haven't heard of it, it's a popular online startup known for its dainty everyday pieces that women often buy for themselves instead of waiting for them to be gifted.
To create its customer-designed luxury jewelry line, AUrate first gathered the data from online and in store. They looked at what customers bought the most of, what they most often gravitated towards, what design requests were repeatedly made, and customer feedback from the extensive questionnaire included in their try-at-home Curate box.
The team spun that data into dozens of prototypes. They held a focus group with loyal customers for feedback and editing, and then winnowed the list down to only the most popular styles. The best ones were updated with the focus group's feedback: more diamonds, thinner or thicker bodies, an addition of vermeil, etc. Then, another focus group wore the pieces for a few weeks and gave the next round of feedback: How were they to wear? Did the ring poke at all? Were the earrings too heavy? Did the necklace tangle? After multiple rounds of drafts and eliminations, the company landed on eight pieces, conceptualized and crowdsourced by its customers.
Co-founder Bouchra Ezzahraoui called the Crowdsource Capsule "the epitome of what we can achieve by being direct to consumer." The line spans necklaces, rings, and earrings and ranges in price from $100 for a bezel ring with your birthstone to $760 for a single Diamond Quadricolor Hoop.
Mara Leighton/Business Insider
The Birthstone Bezel Ring ($100) in person. It's stacked here with the AUrate Stackable Ring ($50) in rose gold.
This level of customization is not common in fine jewelry. Like most industries built atop precious stones and metals, tradition is mainstream largely because it is economical. Ongoing tailoring is prohibitively expensive. But AUrate is known for its affordability precisely because, like so many 21st-century startups, it deleted middlemen and markups from the equation. Customers save, and quality remains the same.
AUrate also has relatively transparent ethical standards, customer guarantees, and a social mission. Its stones are certified for ethical sourcing through the Kimberley Process, an international system established by the UN to prevent "conflict diamonds" from entering the rough diamond market. It also uses 100% recycled gold from verified conflict-free suppliers to mitigate environmental impact, and its pearls are sourced from family-run, sustainable farms that use eco-friendly marine practices. In partnership with Mastery Charter, AUrate also donates a book to US schools for each piece of gold purchased.
AUrate pieces come with a lifetime warranty, insurance, and free shipping and returns in the US. For New York City customers, they can get pieces as early as the day they order with same-day delivery. Students can also get 15% off here.
See AUrate's full Crowdsourced Capsule:
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