The plan had been to cruise the American highway in an old caravan with a group of friends, but it evolved into laying the foundations of a business that today proves its viability. The men’s jewelry brand TwoJeys marks its fifth anniversary this summer, reporting a 60 percent growth in the past year and a turnover of four million euros. The company is intent on doubling, at a minimum, its store network, even though it has only six months of sales through that channel. “We are looking everywhere for opportunities, wherever one presents itself—we’ll be there,” say founders Biel Juste and Joan Margarit.
These entrepreneurs—once called influencers—had long wanted to start something together. While packing for a cross-country trip through the United States, they considered what jewelry style would define their product and the business, how they would position it, and what their value proposition would be. Returning to Barcelona, after several failed attempts to find a manufacturer willing to produce a small run of their designs, they finally found the jeweler who changed everything.
Today’s head of product recalls that the maker agreed to produce 50 units of each of the six designs. “The first day we sold 300 pieces, and there we saw the huge opportunity and that we could really be a solution,” he notes. “What we have achieved is high-quality product at an affordable price,” he adds. In plain terms, they can make for 17 euros what big brands do for 40 euros, and sell for a little under 100 euros what big brands charge around 800.
Production happens in Barcelona, driven by a sentimental tie to their homeland and to speed up delivery. “We could stay like this until we are ten times bigger, and if we were even larger we would set up our own factory,” Juste argues when asked about scalability.
Growth has come steadily through online sales and a brand strategy focused on social media, a creatively designed marketing approach that speaks to the same language as their target audience—young people aged 22 to 33—and by standing apart from the competition. They have also attracted global celebrities like Dua Lipa and Jared Leto wearing their men’s jewelry. “Selling men’s jewelry is innovative: a strong product-market fit is obvious,” explains Juste, who also admits that 70 percent of sales come from outside Spain.
In their newly launched strategy to expand via in-person retail, the third store has already opened in London (United Kingdom).
Aperture of stores
“About 85 percent of what we sell today comes online; stores have been valuable extensions in the last six months,” explains the TwoJeys cofounder, noting a Barcelona street shop on Canuda and a Madrid location on Fuencarral for six months, with London opening three months ago. The two Spanish stores are progressing rapidly, and for 2024 they plan to open at least three more.
The aim is to reproduce the London success and, as soon as possible, establish in other major cities such as Valencia, Seville, or Bilbao. Simultaneously, attention remains on opportunities in Barcelona or Madrid, their core strongholds.
“From the start we wanted to be like a Calvin Klein in jewelry—a top-of-mind brand. If you ask a person aged 20 to 30 in Spain which men’s jewelry brand they know, TwoJeys is likely to be mentioned, or they won’t know any other brand,” the entrepreneur notes with pride. “This isn’t about building a startup that sells in a year; there is a romantic aspect. So the team of about 35 people, across offices and stores, will grow in a healthy way, without creating things that don’t matter,” he concludes.