Shopping

You Need to Know About Local Jewelry Line Hanuel

This local startup has us swooning over their on-trend pieces.

Images courtesy Hanuel.

With it’s delicate accessories and very affordable prices, there’s little not to love about Hanuel, the online jewelry shop that launched this September. The site is the brainchild of two local women, Cynthia Kim and Jen Eun, who decided last fall to bring this collaboration to life.

“We like to say Hanuel was made from a doer and a dreamer,” says Eun. “Cynthia has a background as a jewelry buyer and wanted to curate a store of her own. She’s amazing at making things happen, and she pulled me in to fill the creative side. My background is in photography, and I saw an opportunity to make beautiful images and create a fun community.”

A quick scroll through the website or Hanuel’s Instagram feed shows that Kim and Eun capitalize on creative, Pinterest-friendly images of their jewelry. They’ve managed this look and feel partially by partnering with local social media pros–DC’s fashion bloggers. Features sharing the bloggers’ stories and photos of them wearing Hanuel products are all a part of Hanuel’s smart, aesthetics-driven marketing.

“When we first launched, we wanted to ‘start local, start strong’ because the DMV is our home and family,” says Eun. “A lightbulb went off in our heads, and we thought, ‘Wow, if we can grow an awesome community with Hanuel and help these amazing, talented, creative women share their stories–how great would that be?’”

The site was in part inspired by BaubleBar, the successful online accessories store that brings in celebrity “bar tenders” to market their wares. “Their vision and brand is rock solid,” says Kim. “We hope to continue in that path, while building our own unique brand and story in celebrating and empowering women.”

There’s currently no plan to move towards a brick and mortar, as both Kim and Eun enjoy the flexibility of being a solely online retailer. And the online format hasn’t been bad for business–with their better-than-BaubleBar prices, their bilats and ear jackets are selling like hotcakes. Browse through some of the merchandise in the photos below, then head to the website to shop.

Associate Editor

Caroline Cunningham joined Washingtonian in 2014 after moving to the DC area from Cincinnati, where she interned and freelanced for Cincinnati Magazine and worked in content marketing. She currently resides in College Park.