I still have to pinch myself sometimes—Mogano Jewelry is going to be featured in The Summer 2025 Jilly Box! If you've been following along on our journey, you know this is a HUGE moment for us. Today I'm spilling all the tea on how our custom-designed "Jade Jilly Studs" came to be, the challenges we faced (spoiler: working with natural stones is no joke!), and why I'm counting down the days until the May 14th reveal (today!!!).

Wait, What's The Jilly Box?

If you're new here, let me catch you up real quick! The Jilly Box is this amazing quarterly subscription box created by Jillian Harris (yes, THE Jillian Harris—former TV host, designer, and total style queen) and her business partner Tyler Evans. They started it in 2019 as a way to share Jillian's favorite finds and support small businesses like ours.

What makes The Jilly Box so special is that they're super intentional about featuring products from small, sustainable, women-owned, and diverse brands across North America. Each seasonal box tells a story through its theme, and for Summer 2025, that theme is "country summer"—think farmers markets, picnics in fields, and cozy sunset gatherings around a fire. (Is anyone else already dreaming of summer?)

How It All Started

Back in December 2022, I got an email that made me do a double-take. The Jilly Box team had reached out to see if we might be interested in a potential collaboration! While that initial conversation didn't lead to an immediate project, they came back around in April 2024 with something specific in mind for their Summer 2025 box.

When they mentioned they were looking for a jewelry piece that would fit their "country summer" theme, I knew this was our moment. As a small brand, getting this kind of opportunity doesn't happen every day, and I was determined to create something truly special.

Designing Our "Jade Jilly Studs"

The design process was such a collaborative adventure! The Jilly Box team sent over an inspiration image featuring a stud earring with a round green stone on top of a round turquoise stone. I immediately grabbed my sketchbook and started playing with ways to make this concept distinctly "Mogano" while keeping the country summer vibe.

Here's where it got interesting—the original design featured turquoise to align with the country theme, but after several discussions (and four rounds of samples!), we collectively decided that a softer sage green jade would be more universally wearable while still capturing that natural, earthy feel.

I'll let you in on a little secret: this project pushed me WAY outside my comfort zone! We typically don't work with natural gemstones at Mogano, so designing with jade was a brand new challenge. But that's what I love about collaborations like this—they push you to grow in ways you never expected.

The final design evolved into what we're now calling the "Jade Jilly Studs"—elegant drop earrings featuring genuine white and sage green jade gemstones set in our signature 14k gold-plated bezels (with a thick 1 micron layer of gold over a brass base). And of course, they're 100% lead and nickel free, because quality and safety are non-negotiable for us.

The "OMG What Did We Get Ourselves Into" Phase

Can I be honest with you? There were definitely moments during production when I thought, "What have we gotten ourselves into?!" This was BY FAR the largest production run we've ever done, with a super tight timeline—from October 2024 to a delivery deadline of March 2025.

The biggest challenge? Those gorgeous natural jade stones that give the earrings their unique character are also what made production so tricky. Since they're natural, each stone has its own subtle color variations and patterns. This meant we had to implement a triple quality check system to ensure that the color variations remained within a very small range and that each pair of earrings had perfectly matched stones.

Our team in Kelowna personally inspected EVERY. SINGLE. PAIR. It was intense, but so worth it knowing that each Jilly Box subscriber would receive earrings they'd be excited to wear.

The Packaging Glow-Up

I'm a little obsessed with packaging (anyone else?), so when I saw the floral print on the mood board for the Summer 2025 "country summer" theme, I immediately knew I wanted to incorporate it into our packaging design.

We created custom packaging specifically for these earrings to give them that special "limited edition" feel while tying the country summer theme directly to the jewelry. The entire unboxing experience—from the moment subscribers see the packaging to when they put on the earrings—is designed to feel like a little moment of joy.

Exclusive to The Jilly Box (But Our "Lucky Girl" Collection PRE-ORDERS Are NOW LIVE!)

The "Jade Jilly Studs" are exclusive to the Summer 2025 Jilly Box and won't be available in our regular collection. But I have even MORE exciting news! This collaboration sparked so much creativity that we've designed an entire new collection inspired by these earrings—and PRE-ORDERS just went LIVE today!

Our new "Lucky Girl" collection features fun, summery jade jewelry specifically designed to complement the "Jade Jilly Studs." This is your EXCLUSIVE FIRST ACCESS to the collection before it officially launches to the public! These pieces capture that same effortless summer vibe but with unique designs that stand on their own while pairing beautifully with your Jilly Box earrings.

SHOP THE LUCKY GIRL COLLECTION

What This Means for Mogano

I'm not going to pretend I'm not excited about what this exposure could mean for our small brand! Being featured alongside other amazing brands in The Jilly Box is such an incredible opportunity to connect with a community that values craftsmanship and thoughtfully designed products.

From day one at Mogano, we've been laser-focused on creating high-quality, hypoallergenic, skin-safe jewelry that you can wear every day without worry. That commitment to quality is at the heart of everything we do—from selecting materials to our rigorous testing process. Every piece is designed to be both beautiful AND practical for everyday life, which aligns perfectly with The Jilly Box's mission of curating products that bring joy to daily routines.

The Jilly Box community is full of women who love discovering new brands with genuine stories behind them—basically, our dream customers! While the business side is exciting, what truly makes my heart happy is knowing that thousands of people will soon be unboxing something we poured so much love and care into creating.

This collaboration has already pushed us creatively and helped us grow as a brand. I'm most excited about sharing our passion for jewelry design with people who appreciate the story, craftsmanship, and attention to detail that goes into each piece.

A Big Thank You!

To Jillian, Tyler, and The Jilly Box team: Thank you for believing in Mogano and pushing us creatively! This collaboration has helped us grow in so many ways.

To The Jilly Box subscribers who will soon be unboxing our earrings: I truly hope you love your "Jade Jilly Studs" as much as we loved creating them for you. They represent so much hard work, problem-solving, and passion from our small team.

Let's Stay Connected!

I can't wait to see how you style your "Jade Jilly Studs"! Please share your photos using #MoganoxTheJillyBox and tag us @shopmogano for a chance to be featured on our social media. (Seriously, seeing our pieces "in the wild" is the BEST part of my job!)

If you fall in love with your Jilly Box earrings and want more jade in your life, check out our complementary jade collection at www.shopmogano.com. I designed it specifically to pair with your new Jade Jilly Studs!