When most of us think of collecting, we picture something tangible to wear, display, or park in the garage: watches, furniture, art, or cars. Sitting down with Glenn Spiro reminded me that collecting can go even deeper. His world is built around extraordinary stones, gems so rare that few people will ever see them, let alone hold them. Glenn is a jeweler, yes, but he’s also a collector of stories, provenance, and memories wrapped up in stones as unique as fingerprints.
We spoke while he was in Beverly Hills, working out of his temporary outpost at the Peninsula Hotel, a space he opens only two weeks each year. Clients fly in for the chance to step into his orbit. What they encounter isn’t just jewelry, but a philosophy about beauty, permanence, and passion. Unlike most guests I’ve had on, Glenn doesn’t separate creation from collection. He’s both the maker and the archivist, the artist and the historian, roles that collide in ways that make his story unlike any other.
From Tea Boy to Master Jeweler
Glenn’s career didn’t begin in a family atelier or with a vault full of stones. It started in London at fifteen, making tea at a Cartier workshop. He was sweeping floors, fetching cups, and trying to prove himself when they gave him a test: cut the Queen’s head out of a coin by hand. He passed, and what followed was nine years of apprenticeship that turned him into a master jeweler.
Looking back, Glenn credits those years not just for teaching craft, but for teaching people. Who wears jewelry, who buys stones, and how relationships form around objects of beauty became as important as perfecting a setting. That awareness of human connection became the foundation for everything he’s done since.
A Life Built Around Stones
To Glenn, stones are the center of gravity. He hunts them, sets them, tucks some away for his daughters, and occasionally regrets letting them go. His most famous creation might be Beyoncé’s “papillon” ring, a titanium and diamond butterfly so striking that she eventually donated it to the V&A Museum in London. It embodies everything Glenn stands for: rarity, technical mastery, and artistry that makes an object feel alive.
But behind the high-profile commissions is something more personal. Each year, Glenn sets aside gems for his children, deliberately undocumented so he won’t be tempted to reclaim them later. They rest quietly in vaults until one day his kids open a box and realize their father had been curating treasures for them all along.
The Collector’s Dilemma
Like every serious collector, Glenn wrestles with the question of whether to keep or release what he finds. For him, the dilemma is amplified because he isn’t just acquiring, he’s creating. He might live with a stone for years before finally letting it go.
“It takes so long to make these pieces, and you get so excited to put them out there. Then someone buys it, and you feel like your child just left home,” he told me. That bittersweet reality is something all collectors can relate to, whether the object is a Patek Philippe or a Colombian emerald.
Instinct Over Analysis
Perhaps the best advice Glenn offered came from a story about a seasoned dealer he once shadowed. The man held two stones worth over ten million dollars each. No loupe, no instruments, no prolonged inspection. He simply held them and declared, “She’s magnificent.” And he bought one.
As Glenn explained: “If you look hard enough, you’ll always find fault. Sometimes you just have to love.” In an era where spreadsheets, resale values, and endless analysis can overwhelm the joy of collecting, that perspective was refreshing.
Beyond Jewelry
Though stones are his métier, Glenn’s instinct spills into other passions. He loves cars, his immaculate E-Type Jaguar among them, and is beginning to build an art collection influenced by his son. His most powerful story, though, came from a gamble at a police auction outside Rome.
On vacation in Mustique, he bid remotely on a rumored stone, paying $1.6 million sight unseen. When it was cut and certified, it turned out to be a Fancy Intense Pink flawless diamond. It arrived the very same day his daughter Skyler was born. He named it the “Skyler Rose.” That’s what separates Glenn: instinct, timing, and the ability to turn chance into legacy.
The Collectors Gene Rundown
The One That Got Away: A magnificent emerald, still in the hands of someone close to him. He admits it’s the most extraordinary stone he’s ever seen.
The On Deck Circle: Art. His son’s passion has nudged him deeper into collecting paintings and sculpture.
The Unobtainable: A one-off Rolex from the 1950s that surfaced in a private collection. He knows it will never be his.
The Page One Re-Write: If money were no object, Glenn would collect cars not just for their design, but for the camaraderie of rallies and the memories they create.
The GOAT: A close friend who collects across every aspect of life, from roses in his garden to books on his shelves, inspires him. Another friend in Ibiza, who “collects people,” also shapes how he thinks about passion.
The Hunt or The Ownership: Always the hunt. The chase, the surprise call, the instant instinct, that’s where the magic lives.
Do You Feel That You Were Born With The Collector’s Gene?: “Yes,” Glenn laughed. “I must be, because I’m always buying something. Yesterday it was a silver dish I didn’t need, just because it was beautiful.”
Closing Thoughts
Glenn Spiro embodies what collecting looks like at its highest level: instinct, passion, and the ability to attach meaning to objects. A Fancy Intense Pink diamond becomes the “Skyler Rose” because it arrives with his daughter’s birth. A butterfly ring becomes cultural history when it rests on Beyoncé’s hand before entering a museum.
What struck me most is that Glenn doesn’t just collect; he translates. He takes what nature gives, shapes it into beauty, and passes it into the world with a story attached. That, more than anything, is the collector’s gene at work.
