Meet Fine Jewelry’s Ultimate Power Couples

Thomas Montier Leboucher and Iris de La Villardière first became friends in early childhood, with their shared appreciation for all things beautiful sealing their connection. Fast-forward a few decades, and both were working for different jewelry brands in business development and design. These respective backgrounds are complementary – La Villardière’s design experience makes her the go-to person for shepherding their ideas for Viltier from sketch to prototype, while Leboucher applies his business acumen to details such as sourcing materials. Still, they both like to collaborate on the look of each collection. “We first sit down together, talk about our inspirations, what we like, early sketches,” says Leboucher. “Once we have a lead and a direction, Iris will take the ball and start drawings or sculpting using wax. Then we sit down again, and we edit together.” Their first collection, Magnetic, is centered on a motif that joins two U-shaped halves to create a complete oval. “The two parts of the silhouette represent Iris and I being connected by diamonds – just like the story of our friendship. We lost touch, but reconnected thanks to the jewelry. For us, it became a symbol of union and love.”

When Yves Spinelli and Dwyer Kilcollin first met more than a decade ago, neither had any experience making jewelry (he was in fashion, she was – and still is – an artist). Still, they bonded over a mutual urge “to create alternative, architectural jewelry,” says Spinelli. The iconic design born from their first Spinelli Kilcollin foray was the ‘Galaxy’ ring, which features interconnected links that can be worn in multiple configurations on a single finger or individually across several. The design went from a cult favorite to a smash hit, with endless combinations of precious metals, diamonds and gemstones becoming available in just a few years. Along the way, the couple leaped from creating jewelry in a rudimentary studio in their garage to a dedicated atelier in Los Angeles. Now married with two children, the Spinelli Kilcollin brand is among several of their collaborations. “We always wanted to do everything together,” says Spinelli. “We started a band, a jewelry company and a family, and we built it all together. Fortunately, two out of three successfully stuck – the band, unfortunately, did not make it,” he quips.

For generations, jewelry has been a family affair for Selim Mouzannar, dating as far back as the 19th century. Mouzannar whiled away hours in his father’s workshop among Beirut’s jewelry souks during his childhood and eventually founded a brand that is all his own. Heavily inspired by the architecture and history of his home town, his namesake maison applies modern techniques to Old World motifs awash with gold, colored gems and vivid enamel. When Mouzannar’s daughter Ranwa joined the brand, the fifth consecutive generation of his family entered the world of jewels and gems. Ranwa has carved out a niche of her own, working mainly from Paris as the brand manager, overseeing sales, marketing and communications. Collaborating daily, each has a discrete domain and something to teach the other: Ranwa shares her contemporary perspective and millennial tech-savvy, while her father offers a wealth of experience in every aspect of jewelry-making. “We are not always in agreement, but [we] always come to a consensus,” says Mouzannar. “We are able to challenge one another in a positive way.”