Spinelli Kilcollin - “I love it. How much is it. Can I buy it… This is a business!”

Founded in 2010, Spinelli Kilcollin is a brand with a story as fascinating as its designs.

When Yves Spinelli decided he wanted a “heavy ring”, he set about designing it and getting his dad to make it. The rest, as they say, is history.

“I worked in a high-end luxury store called Maxfield in Los Angeles. And while I was there, I really wanted some very heavy jewellery.

“I saw someone wearing a bar across their fingers and I thought it looked cool but it looked restrictive and how do you even get it to fit? I have big fingers!

“But what if you just had a ring that you could wear across and then those little connectors could allow you some mobility.”

The idea behind the Galaxy ring was born.

“My father was making jewellery as a hobby, and he was quite good at it, so I asked him to make me this ring and this is basically what he made [a simple, unadorned galaxy ring Yves is wearing].

“It was silver, and my dad said: I don’t think you’ll ever wear it that way [across all fingers], you should just stack it on one.

“That’s when I realised there’s all kind of ways you can really wear it: you can stack it, you can wear it across…

“I just started wearing it. I made it for myself, and I was very excited to wear it and have a unique ring that nobody had. And within the first week people started asking about it.”

What could have been the end of the story is in fact the genesis of Spinelli Kilcollin, the brand. 

“Dwyer and I were dating around this time and my dad made a number of rings, maybe six or seven, and we gave one to Dwyer and people started asking her about it too.

“People were just coming up to us. Some friends, and then just random people at, for example, a bar. We thought it was crazy.”

Dwyer explains how the interest in a ring that was simply designed by and for Yves got the brand started.

“We’d just met, and we were in love and wanted to do something together. We were really disappointed that we had to leave and go separate directions all day, and we both also wanted to be self-employed.

“So, when people would come up to us and say I love that and how much is it, can I buy it, we knew it was amazing.

Yves continues: “Especially when you’re not even trying to push it to people.

“As we started working with people, we realised what we had: it’s totally unisex. I made it for myself, but it works perfectly for everybody.

“Working with people, you find someone had very delicate fingers, and my ring was so bulky… We had to adapt. We would say: what if we sized them down, maybe five is too much for this finger, what if we do three?

“That’s kind of how the whole collection started, the genesis of it.”

Yves Spinelli and Dwyer Kilcollin have evolved their brand in the most organic of ways. From a single ring, they now have a brand that is instantly recognisable and appeals to a wide range of people.

“When I worked at Maxfield, I was always enamoured with the brands that were able to appeal and sell to a large range of clients.

“I feel that’s what we’ve done with our brand. It’s organic and I feel grateful that we’re able to do this.

“We have pieces that start at 200USD, and it’s sterling silver, it’s what we started with. And we go up to 50k USD.

“I’d really like to think we can find something for everybody, because the price is democratic, but the style is democratic too.

“If you like rings, there’s probably something we could find that would suit your style and your budget… and you wouldn’t feel as though you’ve compromised by wearing Spinelli Kilcollin.”