The Jeweler to Reality TV Stars

New York Times

21 hours ago

Eagle-eyed Bravo viewers may know him as the man behind three different 'Vanderpump Rules' engagement rings, or as the beleaguered best friend of the disgraced reality TV villain Tom Sandoval. But when Kyle Chan started selling handmade jewelry at the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk in 2010, he had no idea that he would one day parlay his small stall into a luxury jewelry business famous for its connection to the world of reality stars.
Mr. Chan immigrated from Hong Kong to the United States when he was 13, and started making jewelry after taking a class in high school. 'I fell in love with it, but I just didn't have the money to continue, so I started all kinds of odd jobs,' Mr. Chan said in a phone interview. 'I was a waiter. I was working at an airline. I did hair and makeup.'
Eventually, he scored a job at a small jewelry boutique, which he managed for seven years before moving into wholesale. Then, in the early 2010s, he met Kyle Richards, the longtime star of the Bravo reality show 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.' It was then that his career really took off.
'She and her four daughters would always go to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Flea Market, so that's how I met her,' Mr. Chan said. 'She was very kind, and she would buy my jewelry, even though I would insist I'd give it to her for free. But she said, 'No, no, no, I'd like to buy it, I want to show support.''
Ms. Richards started wearing his pieces on the show, which premiered in October 2010, and posting about them to her millions of followers. When he graduated from making silver and gold-filled pieces into more luxury fare, she began carrying his designs at her since-shuttered Beverly Hills boutique, Kyle by Alene Too.
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