House of Smaragd Advent Box by Rilind Hoxha and Haris Murich is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 Bronze A' Design Award in Giftware Design Competition Category.
BronzeGiftware· 2025
House of Smaragd Advent Box
by Rilind Hoxha and Haris Murich
Client: Smaragd 1969 / Why Agency
Bronze A' Design Award Winner in Giftware Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #171968The Design
About House of Smaragd Advent Box
House of Smaragd Advent Calendar is a structured countdown box made from ecological paper and sustainable materials, designed for repeated use. It contains four individually packaged jewelry pieces, each secured in separate compartments. Packaging is recyclable and reusable, reducing environmental impact. The box design allows for controlled access to each compartment, maintaining the element of surprise while keeping the items protected.
The Recognition
About the Bronze A' Design Award
House of Smaragd Advent Box is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. House of Smaragd Advent Box is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. House of Smaragd Advent Box splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
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Design Interview
What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
The core idea was to create something more than packaging — an emotional experience. Inspired by both the magic of the holiday season and the timeless elegance of fine jewelry, we wanted to craft a calendar that feels like a treasured gift in itself. The principle was “built to be kept, designed to be felt.”
What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
We focused on creating a luxurious, reusable object that holds emotional and functional value. Our goal was to combine the joy of unboxing with the prestige of premium jewelry — every compartment reveals a carefully curated piece.
What are your future plans for this award winning design?
We’re planning a limited series production for the upcoming holiday season, expanding on the same concept with new color palettes and product combinations. It will become a signature holiday tradition under Smaragd 1969.
Grand Interview
Your innovative approach to sustainable packaging in the House of Smaragd Advent Box beautifully merges luxury with environmental consciousness - could you elaborate on how you developed this eco-friendly concept while maintaining the premium jewelry presentation experience?
From the very beginning, our vision was to demonstrate that sustainability can enhance, rather than diminish, the feeling of luxury. We replaced traditional glossy and plastic-based materials with FSC-certified paper, water-based inks, and recyclable structures, while ensuring every detail — from the tactile texture to the sound of opening — retained a sense of refinement. The concept was built around longevity: instead of being discarded, the box could be repurposed as a jewelry chest, allowing the design to live on far beyond its first impression.
The House of Smaragd Advent Box features a fascinating blend of vintage advent calendar aesthetics with contemporary jewelry packaging - what inspired you to reimagine this traditional format for modern luxury retail?
The inspiration came from the ritual of discovery that advent calendars represent — a daily act of anticipation and joy. We wanted to translate that emotional rhythm into the world of fine jewelry. Our research into vintage advent calendars from mid-century Europe helped us capture their narrative charm, which we then reimagined through clean geometry, precision folds, and modern proportions. This balance of past and present allowed us to create an object that evokes nostalgia while remaining unmistakably contemporary.
The structural design of the House of Smaragd Advent Box, with its four distinct compartments, creates an intriguing journey of discovery - could you walk us through the creative process behind developing this particular configuration and how it enhances the customer experience?
The structure was conceived as a symbolic journey through four chapters — each representing one of Smaragd 1969’s core values: heritage, craftsmanship, emotion, and modernity. We tested various modular layouts until finding a configuration that felt both balanced and ceremonial. The sequential opening of compartments creates a narrative flow, transforming unboxing into an experience of exploration — a quiet, elegant ritual that connects the user emotionally to each jewelry piece.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- House of Smaragd Advent Calendar is a structured countdown box made from ecological paper and sustainable materials, designed for repeated use. It contains four individually packaged jewelry pieces, each secured in separate compartments. Packaging is recyclable and reusable, reducing environmental impact. The box design allows for controlled access to each compartment, maintaining the element of surprise while keeping the items protected.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- 164x164x42mm, Gold plated & ecologically colored recycled paper.
- Tags
- Christmas, Advent, Gifts, Jewelry, Marketing, Packaging.
- Production Technology
- Sketched and Produced in Adobe Illustrator. Print execution done by hand.
- Design Challenge
- The hardest part was what the theme of the advent box was gonna be.
The first themes were including miracles and surprises, but then we opted for a royalty like direction, for example House of Tudor.
The second hardest part was creating an unique blueprint for the box, which was largely assisted by the production facility. - Research
- The research was mostly done online with some physical inspiration from vintage advent boxes found on flea markets.
- Inspiration
- The advent box takes inspiration from vintage advent boxes, incorporating a classic multi-compartment structure that enhances the anticipation of weekly reveals. Traditional advent calendars featured individually sealed sections, a concept replicated here with four separate compartments, each containing a unique jewelry piece.
- Project Duration
- The project piloted in 2023 for the 2024 season, and an initial prototype was released in limited quantities. The final presented version was produced in November 2024, and released on the 9th of December 2024. Production was primarily in Why Agency offices, while execution was done by AJ-Graf Matbaa in Skopje. The product was available for sale online and physically in the Smaragd stores in Skopje.
- Operation Flow
- The front part is opened and there are four boxes inside, which are removable. Each of the boxes contains a piece of jewelry.
- Team Members
- Rilind Hoxha - Executive Direction & Production
Haris Murich - Creative Direction - Image Credits
- Filip Shutarov
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