Why Luxury Customers Are Heading To Madison Avenue For Jewelry

Forbes

07-05-2025

Madison Avenue on a sunny day, Manhattan, New York City, USA getty
Synonymous for decades with advertising (remember Don Draper falling from a Madison high-rise in the Mad Men credits?), New York's Madison Avenue long left luxury to neighboring Fifth Avenue, which runs parallel through Manhattan. Luxury fashion flagships eventually began appearing in the 1980s, keen to capitalize on a well-heeled New York clientele. But with the Covid pandemic, came store closures and now jewelry brands are vying to Madison's fill vacant lots in an Uptown renaissance that is seeing heritage and independent jewelry brands alike flocking to the Upper East Side.
One of the most recent to do so, is Marina B, which opened a flagship last month at 673, in the Maison Avenue Historic District. After years of selling successfully through retailers like Net-a-Porter and MyTheresa, the brand was keen to have a 'jewel box', a bricks-and-mortar retail space, which speaks to a broader trend for physical brand touchpoints also noted in cities like London. 'Like the Rue St Honore in Paris and Via Monte Napoleone in Milan, Madison Avenue has always been a destination for a sophisticated clientele. Both heritage houses and innovative boutiques are equally at home on this storied avenue: IYKYK,' says Marina B Creative Director and majority owner, Guy Bedarida, who described the opening as a 'homecoming of sorts. One of the first boutiques [the brand founder] Mrs Bulgari opened was at Madison and 68th Street.'
A gold and diamond Trisola ring by Marina B, a luxury jewelry brand that has just opened on Madison ... More Avenue. Marina B
He believes that the Madison boom can partly be put down to a migration uptown from Hudson yards and Nolita, 'which are more challenging destinations. The renaissance of the Upper East Side and Madison Avenue is holistic, and also extends to high-profile restaurant openings and exciting residential developments, plus the renovation of the Frick Collection and Sotheby's move to the Breuer Building. Many cultural forces in the city are consolidating in this exciting and elegant neighborhood.'
The area now attracts shoppers who are 'international and local, sophisticated and adventurous; 'independent' decision-makers with a strong bias towards quality, craftsmanship and longevity,' according to Bedarida, a target which has been like catnip to jewelry and diamond brands over the past two years in particular.
Jewelry from the Untamed Nature collection by Boucheron, a French heritage jewelry brand that ... More recently opened a store on Madison Avenue. Boucheron
'Madison Avenue isn't just any location –- it's a perfect match for our Maison,' says the Boucheron CEO Hélène Poulit-Duquesne. The Parisian heritage brand favors intimacy and exclusivity for its international clientele and spent a long time searching for the right location in which to bring a corner of Place Vendôme to New York City, before finally opening in September 2024. 'In the post-Covid era, Madison Avenue has regained strength as a destination for exclusive and quieter experiences, in contrast to the hectic golden mile on Fifth Avenue with its mass traffic." She believes that the location "allows Boucheron's creativity and heritage to truly shine, enabling us to fully express our family spirit in what feels like a Parisian home with New York's distinctive Art Deco character.'
Despite having a flagship nearby on Fifth, fellow Paris heritage brand Van Cleef & Arpels also has a plush townhouse boutique on Madison and 62nd, and Fred Leighton, Buccellati and Pomellato have long had stores there. De Beers moved its New York flagship to Madison from Fifth in 2005, with CEO François Delage later telling WWD that 'Fifth Avenue became less and less a reflection of the brand… Madison is more in line with what we want to offer our customer and what our customer wants.' Less footfall perhaps, but from clients who are more likely to buy.
Creative director and founder Beth Hutchens in FoundRae's Madison Avenue store, which opened in ... More 2024. FoundRae Independent luxury jewelry brand on Madison Avenue
Amongst the bold heritage flagships, are also carefully crafted destinations for independent brands. Marlo Laz, Seaman Schepps and the sculptural Brazilian jewelry brand Sauer all now have Madison addresses. James Taffin de Givenchy also has his headquarters here, with a showroom decorated in his inimitable style, and a separate space for craftspeople.
After a store near her home in Tribeca in 2018, FoundRae opened a second New York address on Madison in September 2024, with an interior inspired by Diana Vreeland's Park Avenue apartment a few blocks away. 'Before I ever set foot in the space, I had a feeling it would be FoundRae's newest home, because of its auspicious address: 777,' says the brand's founder and creative director, Beth Hutchens. 'Seven is my favorite number and has often appeared in my life as a sign that I'm on the right path.' The store is infused with all the symbolism of the brand itself, along with art and objects from Hutchens' personal collection displayed amongst her cult jewelry and collectibles.
Uptown girl: a model wears jewelry by Marina B Max Catena
At the other end of the design spectrum, Danish jeweler Sophie Bille Brahe's new space is the very essence of pared-back Scandinavian minimalism. White, bright and airy, the second-floor showroom was curated by the designer herself and includes meaningful items from her personal collection in her first store outside of her native Copenhagen. Speaking to Vogue Scandinavia after the opening in November 2024, she described it as a 'Scandinavian palazzo, where every detail is purposeful and thoughtfully considered,' in the image of her pearl and diamond brand.
With Jessica McKormack — who saw big buzz at the start of the year after creating an engagement ring for Zendaya — and French diamond jeweler Messika opening on Madison soon, it looks like the dynamic is set to continue. As Francesca Simons, one of New York's most in-demand jewelry brand consultants puts it, 'Madison Avenue is having a moment — there's a renewed energy with a mix of heritage and modernity that feels exciting again. With brands like Marina B. leading the charge, it's quickly reestablishing itself as a go-to destination for fine jewelry.'