How I Got Here: Elaina Mansour on Making the Everyday More Opulent
By Karen Dybis | March 13, 2024
"Elaina Mansour says Nijma M Fine Jewelry is inspired by two people: her mother and Mansour’s younger self—a Catholic schoolgirl in Sudbury, Ontario, who had to wear the same uniform for years.
“Jewelry was a way I was able to express my personal style. I loved gold hoops, rings, and watches,” Mansour recalls. Her favorite pieces? Her first pair of solid gold earrings with small gemstones, and her first yellow gold bangle.
In June 2022, Mansour followed her youthful calling, shifting from a career in medicine to create Nijma M Fine Jewelry. “Wearing and appreciating jewelry is very much rooted in our culture,” Mansour explains about the influence of her Lebanese heritage.
Nijma is the Arabic word for star and also Mansour’s middle name; the M in her company’s name represents her surname. The Toronto-based brand’s first collection, New Nostalgia, has pieces made with recycled 14k gold, sustainably mined natural diamonds, and blue topaz. Their modern opulence pays tribute to Mansour’s mom, whose personal style is elegant with contemporary twist.
Elaina Mansour says she wants her clients to wear their fine jewelry—such as Nijma M’s Jazz Fingers hand chain bracelet ($1,757)—daily rather than store it away for special occasions.
“A connoisseur of fine statement jewelry, my mom instilled in me from a young age that the everyday is a celebration in itself—that the beauty and joy in our everyday lives deserves as much celebration as the big milestones,” Mansour says. “One such way of celebration is through jewelry.”
She has memorized every detail of one particular piece in her mom’s collection that she’s always loved: a substantial blue topaz pendant, its stone surrounded by a thick yellow gold bezel and suspended from a braided solid gold chain.
“My mom still wears it to this day, and I still love seeing her style it,” Mansour says. “The personal connections and memories and emotions often attached to jewelry is what makes it magical to me.”
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The Eye on You necklace ($3,438) has natural diamonds at the lashes and encircling the blue topaz pupil of the “evil eye.”
Mansour’s maternal grandparents and her father immigrated to Canada during the Lebanese civil war of the 1970s and ’80s. The family started an industrial business, Mansour Group, with divisions in rail, logistics, and chemical commodities.
“Our parents taught us the value of hard work and that being a business owner requires understanding every aspect of your business—what works, what doesn’t, and to have the overall vision on how to continue growing and evolving,” Mansour says. “This is something that stuck with me and the reason why now I am involved in every single aspect of my business.”
After graduating in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Laurentian University in her hometown, Sudbury (known as “Nickel City” for its mining), Mansour enrolled in the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine. She then had a naturopathic practice in Vancouver, and she still holds her medical license.
These earrings are Nijma M’s Spiralize ($2,938), featuring a series of round diamonds along the loops to add a touch of elegance.
“As much as I loved this study and area of medicine, I had a love of fashion and accessories from the time I was a child. I wanted to explore that and what it meant for me,” Mansour says.
To prepare for a jewelry career, Mansour got a certificate in fashion coordination and styling from the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University, now known as Toronto Metropolitan University. She also completed a GIA course in ... "
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