On Nov. 12, juniors Katen Kinder and Lauren McCombs launched their Instagram business Silverwear. The two take recycled silverware and turn them into custom-sized and affordable rings. In addition to creating rings, they’ve also begun selling charmed earrings with even more products to come in the future. 

All of the silverware used are from antique shops, flea markets and thrift stores. Nothing purchased by McCombs or Kinder is factory new.   

“We’re able to find lots of spoons with cool designs or patterns,”  McCombs said. “Thrift stores and flea markets have lots of spoons just sitting there that we could put to good use.”

Depending on what the spoon looks like, they can cost the girls anywhere from $1 to 3 dollars to purchase. They plan on selling the rings for about $13 each. 

“We looked online to see what other people were pricing their jewelry and it was anywhere from $20-$30,” Kinder said.“We wanted to make sure that our price was affordable.” 

One of the reasons most shops sell their products at such a high price is the labor intensity required to make these types of rings. 

“After buying the spoons, we clean them off and cut off the part of the spoon we actually use,” said McCombs, “We then measure out the size the customer wants and use a ring bending tool to bend the ring into the size and shape they want. To finish it off, we polish and file the ring before giving it to the customer.” 

Kinder and McCombs initially started their business for fun, but it soon became a mission to not only do something good for the environment but provide consumers with sustainable and affordable jewelry. 

“[Silverwear] was a 1 a.m. idea,” McCombs said. “[Katen] was looking at earrings or some type of ring on Etsy and I was like ‘I am not paying $65 for a ring. Why don’t we just make our own?’ We want it to be affordable for everyone. We don’t want it to be super expensive where people can’t buy our products, we want to have something for everyone.”

Not only are Kinder and McCombs excited about the launch of their business, but customers certainly are too. Already sitting at 126 followers, the Instagram account is booming with anticipation.

“We’ve got a lot of people excited for it,” McCombs said. “I’m expecting a lot of things to sell out quickly as we already have people messaging us asking for things.” 

Currently, there are earrings ready to purchase through the Silverwear Instagram account. However, Kinder and McCombs already have plans to expand their business locally.

We’re talking to the owner of one of the antique shops we bought our spoons from about setting up a booth there to sell our rings,” McCombs said, “Hopefully if everything goes well, it’ll be coming soon.”

Even ahead of launch, Kinder and McCombs had already discussed the future of their jewelry line with plans to add new products in the future. 

“We’ve talked about selling necklaces that have the same charms that our earrings do because some people have asked if we’ll ever sell necklaces,” Kinder said. “We’ve also looked into metal stamped rings where we’d be able to engrave into the band since people have asked about that as well.”

Customers and those interested should follow the Silverwear Instagram frequently as updates and sneak peeks of new products will be posted frequently. 

“We’re going to make sure our products are affordable for everyone and not too expensive all while giving back to the environment with recycled spoons,” Kinder said.