When people ask how long it took to build ADEL, I usually smile and say, "Longer than I expected." What most people don't see is that building a jewellery brand isn't really about choosing beautiful pieces. It's about rejecting them. Over and over again.
When I first started looking for suppliers, I assumed the difficult part would be choosing between hundreds of beautiful designs. Instead, I found myself asking a completely different question. "Would I actually be happy if this arrived on my own doorstep?" Sometimes the answer was yes. More often than I expected, it wasn't.
There were pieces I genuinely loved in photos and was stalking that courier for delivery notifications every single day.
Then the samples arrived. The finish wasn't quite right. The plating looked inconsistent. The chain felt lighter than it should. Tiny details that many people might never notice became impossible for me to ignore, because once you see them, you can't unsee them. Maybe I’m too fussy… And honestly, it became quite overwhelming. All samples have to be worn, of course, so there I am typing at my work desk with a ridiculous amount of items on one day because I wanted to wear test a whole bunch at once. Fail…
Some samples looked wonderful from the front but revealed rushed workmanship in the places people don't immediately see. It taught me something I hadn't expected: A catalogue doesn't tell the whole story. Only the product in your hands does.
There were times I wanted to convince myself something was "good enough." After all, saying yes would have been easier. More products, a larger collection, a quicker launch. But every compromise would eventually become part of ADEL.
And that never sat comfortably with me.
That's one of the reasons our capsule collection is intentionally small.
Not because there weren't hundreds of designs available…Because these were the ones that earned their place. Every piece had to feel timeless, comfortable, well made, something I could genuinely imagine reaching for on an ordinary Tuesday morning.
I've learned that saying no is one of the most important parts of building a brand.
No to suppliers that didn't meet expectations.
No to trends that didn't feel timeless.
No to products that looked beautiful online but didn't feel beautiful in person.
Those decisions aren't always visible…But I hope they're something you notice every time you wear an ADEL piece.
ADEL has never been about having the biggest collection. It's about creating one that's been chosen carefully. One piece at a time.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone buying from ADEL realises how many pieces they'll never see. The dozens of samples that didn't make it. The suppliers I walked away from. The designs I loved but couldn't justify selling. And honestly... I'm okay with that. Because every 'no' helped shape the 'yes' that became ADEL.
