In a university town known for independent businesses, creative energy and a strong sense of community, Kennon Young has carved out a distinctive place on Burlington, Vermont’s beloved Church Street. A formally trained jewelry designer, Young has become a go-to local resource for clients looking for something increasingly difficult to find: expertise paired with a highly personal, concierge-style experience.
For years, clients have sought Young out for custom jewelry, engagement rings, gemstone expertise and appraisals. Today, they can also visit him for something considerably more celestial.
Young is the founder and designer behind Starlust Jewelry, a Vermont-born fine jewelry brand that transforms zodiac signs into symbols of relationships. Its signature concept combines two astrological signs into a single necklace that represents two people and the connection between them. Think mother and daughter. Sisters. Best friends. Romantic partners. A grandparent and grandchild. Even someone wishing to keep the memory of a loved one close.
“I don’t sell jewelry; I sell romance,” Young explained. “Jewelry can be purchased in a department store where you can also buy potato chips and underwear. That’s not my product or market. People who demand romantic attachment to what they wear are my clientele.”
Burlington’s Neighborhood Gemologist
There is something fitting about Starlust emerging from Burlington, a city that combines the energy of a university town with the intimacy of a community where independent businesses become part of everyday life.
Young’s credentials stretch far beyond the traditional jewelry counter. His interest in jewelry began in high school, where a jewelry fabrication elective introduced him to the craft. At 18, he moved to San Francisco to attend the Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts, studying old-world bench techniques including stone setting, chasing and repoussé.
He later became a graduate gemologist through the Gemological Institute of America and studied valuation in personal property through the Rhode Island School of Design extension school. In 2016, he became an accredited master gemologist appraiser through the American Society of Appraisers.
Those disciplines allow Young to approach jewelry as designer, gemologist, appraiser and craftsman. For clients, that means having a conversation with someone who understands how a piece is made, why a gemstone is special, what gives jewelry value and how to translate sentiment into something wearable.
Two Signs, One Story
Starlust’s signature idea began not as a business concept but as a gift. Young created a necklace for his wife, Gwen, combining their zodiac signs: Aries and Libra. The design represented each of them individually while physically connecting their symbols within one piece. That gift eventually became the foundation of Starlust Jewelry.
The signature necklace collection allows customers to select any two zodiac signs and combine them into a single design, available in sterling silver, 14-karat yellow, white and rose gold, and platinum.
The simplicity creates countless interpretations. A mother can pair her sign with her child’s. Best friends can create an alternative to a traditional friendship necklace. Couples can combine signs for an anniversary or birthday. Someone grieving can pair their sign with that of a person who has passed, creating a subtle memorial.
“When I have the rare privilege to see the look on my client’s face when they see their new piece for the first time, [it] makes it all worth it. The countless renditions, attending to the smallest details, and even pouring some of myself into the designs. It all matters greatly when creating something of intrinsic value,” Young explained. The jewelry doesn’t dictate what the relationship should be. The wearer gives the pairing its meaning.
A Different Kind of Personalized Jewelry
Personalization has become central to modern jewelry, from initials and names to birthstones and engraved dates. Zodiac jewelry offers another layer because a sign can represent identity and personality. Starlust takes that idea further by asking a different question: Who belongs beside you?
That turns an individual zodiac symbol into a relationship piece. It also makes gifting personal without requiring someone to design an entirely custom jewel. Knowing two birthdays is enough to create a pairing specific to the recipient and someone important in their life.
For university students, parents, alumni and Burlington locals, the concept can also mark a particular chapter, especially in a college town where relationships are constantly formed, celebrated and carried elsewhere after graduation.
From Church Street to Anywhere
While Burlington locals and visitors can seek Young out in person, Starlust extends beyond Vermont through its online collection. That combination of local expertise and digital accessibility reflects the evolving role of the independent jeweler.
Behind the website is not an anonymous jewelry company but a working gemologist and designer with decades of experience and a physical presence in the community where the brand began.
Young’s designer collection expands the celestial theme with individual zodiac designs in 14-karat yellow, white and rose gold as well as platinum, accented with lab-grown diamonds intended to evoke stars in the night sky. Future designs are envisioned with additional diamonds, birthstones and meaningful gemstones. Yet the emotional premise remains simple: jewelry often marks the people we love.
An engagement ring represents a partner. A birthstone can represent a child. An inherited jewel connects generations. Starlust applies that emotional language to astrology, using zodiac signs as shorthand for the people who make up someone’s personal universe.
For Burlington, that story can begin with a conversation with Young on Church Street. For those farther away, it can begin with two signs and two people.
If you could keep someone important to you written in the stars and close to your heart, whose sign would you pair with yours?
