Jewelry designer Michael Spirito debuts a rockin’ collection for Sears

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Michael Spirito, designer for the Exhibitionist fine jewelry collection -- famous for its regal, rock-inspired pieces -- has jumped on the mass-market collaboration wagon. This month, the New York-based jeweler launched a collection of sterling silver and stainless steel pieces for Sears, a retailer not known for its high-fashion baubles.

The collection, called Rock & Redemption, debuted in 200 Sears stores across the country (including the one in Glendale), and mirrors the goth-cum-heavy metal aesthetics of the designer’s high-end collection.

Faux ruby and onyx rings with snakes coiled around them; heavy steel rings and dog tags featuring a skull-and-crossbones design -- the collection seems almost made for the weathered, permanently bejeweled members of a band like Velvet Revolver.
Surprisingly, the collaboration isn’t Target-caliber cheap. Online, most of the pieces have been marked down to about $60, but at full price, they range from $119 for a crystal heart pendant to $139.99 for a stainless steel dog tag (which seems mighty expensive to this reporter.)

But then Spirito, a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and who won the Gen Art International Design Vision Award for accessories in 2002, has a loyal cadre of fans, including Beyonce, Gwen Stefani and ‘American Idol’ alum Adam Lambert, who sports a hybrid glove-brass knuckles created by Spirito in a promotional image for his new album.

-- Emili Vesilind
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