Diamond SHOW STOPPER

Ten fun facts from the team of Spinelli Kilcollin on developing a new classic.

by michelle orman

Yves Spinelli is the official face of Spinelli Kilcollin, but the company is actually run by both Yves and Dwyer Kilcollin. Dwyer originally took on a less visible role, mainly because she was accepted for a graduate degree in Fine Arts about a year after the couple launched the brand, so she had to shift much of her focus.

Spinelli Kilcollin is now well known for their fabulous interlocking Galaxy ring. Yves got the idea for its design while working at Maxfield in Los Angeles, and commissioned his father, who’d been a blacksmith in Italy before moving to Hawaii, to create a prototype. When the ring arrived, he told his dad that he’d done it wrong; the ring wasn’t exactly what he’d envisioned. But Yves quickly realized how much he loved it, and immediately started wearing it.

When he wore the ring to work, it instantly garnered attention among Maxfield’s clientele (and ultimately, orders). Shortly thereafter, he met Dwyer, who began wearing a version of the ring at her gallery job. Through word of mouth, orders started coming in, and the two realized they were onto something.

They named the first variations of the ring for friends who commissioned pieces.

While it may seem like Spinelli Kilcollin was an overnight success, it took several years for the couple, who are now married and have a child, to be embraced by retailers. Yves even started selling off his beloved record collection to fund their efforts.

A watershed moment came when Ikram, in Chicago, saw the rings and commissioned one with all-diamond pave. She called Sally Singer, then the Creative Director of Vogue, and told her she must see these rings. A buzz soon followed in the Vogue office, and shortly spread around the world!

As a child, Yves was given a chance to attend a prominent kindergarten in Hawaii. Right before his interview, he accidentally sat on his favorite Hawaiian children’s music record and broke it. He was devastated. His mom offered him a bribe: if he did well in the interview, they’d visit the record store afterwards, a fact that he innocently shared with his interviewer. He was accepted to the school, and remains an avid record collector to this day.

Dwyer is a natural athlete who grew up climbing trees and was part of the rollerblade movement. She continues to be super-active.

When Dwyer and Yves started Spinelli Kilcollin, they were both working for other people and also had a rock band. The toll of running their own business while working two jobs became too much and, much to Yves’ chagrin, they had to shut down the band.

Dwyer and Yves have an amazing “jewelry emergency” story. Yves had designed an engagement ring and was planning to propose to Dwyer during a trip to Tokyo. He somehow misplaced the ring, and panicked! Without telling Dwyer what he’d lost, the two began retracing their steps throughout Tokyo. After searching for hours, with Dwyer trying to calm Yves down, he finally blurted, “It was your engagement ring!” Of course, the ring was discovered safe and sound in a back office at Ron Herman.