Ecksand’s Aura Collection Moves the Montreal Brand to New Level

Canadian jewelry house Ecksand marks a “pivotal moment” with its new Aura collection, showcasing the brand’s design and manufacturing excellence in Aura’s reversibility mechanism and handmade hinges, Ecksand creative director Erica Bianchini tells JCK.

“Aura is a statement,” Bianchini says. “It affirms Ecksand’s presence on the global stage: Canadian craftsmanship expressed with clarity and strength. Jewelry that resonates like the energy we radiate.”

The collection’s signature piece is a ring ($4,064) with a row of crescents that transform, by a flick of the wearer’s finger, from diamond pavé to brushed gold. Other Aura pieces with the reversible crescents include a stackable ring ($1,887), pendant necklaces ($3,240 and $3,695), earrings ($4,999), and a bangle ($8,104). There is also a hero diamond necklace ($31,081) that switches between pavé and half-moon stones.

Ecksand shows its artistry with Aura jewelry’s design duality and its skill with the reversible movement, Bianchini says. The company debuted Aura globally on Oct. 30 after a series of previews in Los Angeles, New York City, Toronto, and the brand’s Montreal atelier.

Ecksand offers reversibility in a diamond crescent necklace with pear pendant (price on request) and a diamond ring ($4,064), among other Aura jewels.

Bianchini says the collection is meant to capture how energy expands, intensifies, and transforms. It doesn’t sit still; rather, it produces a ripple effect, a reaction. The reversibility of Aura’s pieces represents that movement, and in turn symbolizes a wearer’s changing perspective, she explains.

“Everything you do, everything you say, everything you bring to a room has a reaction,” says Bianchini. “You can shift your vibrations, your mood, your state of mind with just a gesture.”

Wearers might select matte gold side when they are in a resting or contemplative mood and the diamond side for when they want to dazzle people or make a statement. “It’s about contrast. One side is muted, but then you can take it up a notch. You don’t always need to shine your light, but the light is always there,” Bianchini says.

“I tell my children: Beauty is more than looks. Don’t judge people by just what God gave them. Look at what they bring into the world,” she says. “Aura’s name reflects that. The collection is about the circle of energy you give off around you.”

Aura’s reversible diamond chain bracelet ($5,872) shown with the matte side

The two-sided jewels also reflect Bianchini’s life as a designer and a mom, she says. And it was her daughter’s sequined pillow that first gave her the idea for what would become Aura. A few years ago, flip sequins—which can change the color of an item—were all the rage among tweens and teens, and Bianchini says she was fascinated watching her kids and their friends flip the sequins on pillows and apparel to suit their moods.

With the reversible idea in mind, Bianchini researched other designers’ work and what was on the market. Not seeing exactly what she wanted to create, she dived into the design process, working hand in hand with the artisans at Ecksand to come up with a way to make Aura’s movement possible. They went through 18 iterations to get the hinges, mechanism, and other details just right, says Bianchini.

“We wanted to express the connection between the maker and the wearer,” she says. “We design to help the wearer tell their story—how they want their aura to be expressed.”

All Ecksand jewelry is produced in the company’s state-of-the-art workshop, which is optimized for minimal environmental impact. Aura represents where the brand, in business for 16 years, is headed next, Bianchini says.

“We’re at a moment in our heritage artisan brand’s history where we’re able to reinforce through collections like Aura why we have done what we have done over so many years. It’s so we could do something like this.”

Top: The pavé crescents on this Aura ring ($3,240) can be flipped to their brushed gold sides. (Photos courtesy of Ecksand)