Looking For Curved Wedding Band? Chimera Design Has Them - Loving Embrace

Does your engagement ring curve?

Looking for a band to follow the contour without the time and expense of custom?

Say "hello" to our little friend - the Loving Embrace System from Ptak Brothers in New York.

We start with these 13 curves that field testing demonstrated fit 95% of all engagement rings.

Once we find the curve that best hugs your engagement ring - then you can choose from

any of TWENTY FIVE (yup, 25) different wedding band style. Since each band can be

made from any of the 13 curves that means you have a potential field of 325 rings to find a match.

The 25 bands go from simple bands made in the metal of your choice -

white, yellow, or rose gold in 10, 14, or 18kt 

or platinum

or paladium -

to bands that are decorated with all kinds of bling 

- diamonds or gemstones or BOTH.

The BEST part? Prices start at less than $300.

We cannot make a custom shadow band for that amount of money.

Sally let us share some pictures of her ring.

Curve #9 fit like a glove - look at the results.

If you have a curvy engagement ring, bring it on

in to Chimera Design and we can help you find the perfect

Loving Embrace wedding band.

Give Your Favorite Ring a Day At The Spa - only $15

Bring your ring in for a Day at the Spa 

$15 includes an inspection, buffing, a warm ultrasonic bath

and a cleansing blast of steam.

Your ring serves you well every day. Treat to a few hours of luxury at Chimera Design.

We will begin with a thorough inspection of all the tips, prongs, channels, bezels,

as well as the shank of your ring to make sure all the diamonds and gems are secure.

Then your ring is taken to the back room for a vigorous 

2,850 rpm massage from our Handler buffer. Our hand selected 

jewelers rouge will erase surface scratches and return your precious metal to a 

lovely glow.

Your ring will then be gently lowered into the heated tank of our

Branson 2510 ultrasonic. Special cleaning material dissolved in the water

will search our all the dirt and grime while your ring is 

basking in the comfort of 40kz ultrasonic waves.

No trip to a jewelry Day Spa is complete without the cleansing, purifying 

power of steam. Our 1300 watt Steam Dragon will blast away

any left over dirt or rouge with blasts of vaporized distilled

water delivered at somewhere between 90-125 psi.

All this for $15 per ring.

Custom Jewelry - We can fabricate, cast or YOU can design jewelry online.

We completely understand that you want jewelry to reflect YOUR style. 

We want to do what ever we can to deliver jewelry that is customized just for you.

Chimera Design has three ways to accomplish that goal - they vary from the oldest method to a state of the art online design app that puts you in total control of all the elements of your jewelry.

1. Fabrication - this is the oldest form of jewelry creation. Fabrication involves the cutting, bending, and shaping of metal. Once the metal is in the shape we want it, then diamonds and gemstones can be added if they are desired.

Here is a short video about fabrication:

Julie does most of the fabrication in our store/shop. Examples of her work can be seen on our website at these pages: Chimera Design Silver and Chimera Design Mokume Gane.

2. Lost Wax Casting - carving a piece of jewelry in wax and then casting it in some form of precious metal - sterling, gold, or platinum is another way to create jewelry. Here is a quick video about this method of making jewelry:

Our friend Jere Keyes works with Cliff on creating most of the jewelry we make using the lost wax method. These days we usually start with a CAD/CAM design and then carve the wax based on the CAD images. 

You can find samples of the lost wax method here: Chimera Design CAD/CAM

3. You can now design jewelry online at our Chimera Design Showcase. The app allows you to design jewelry with THOUSANDS of choices from your phone, tablet, or desktop. You can choose the metal you want (sterling silver, white, yellow or rose gold, or even platinum) - in addition you can choose the size and shape of diamonds and/or gemstones you use. Every choice you make is reflected in the estimated price - so you will know instantly how much of a price difference there is between 10kt and 14kt gold. You can even choose different clarity and color grades for any diamonds.

TWO NOTES: First, this app does work on phones, but it is a big app with LOTS of choices so it will go faster on a laptop or desktop.

Secondly - designing jewelry on the Chimera Showcase does NOT mean you are buying anything. In fact, you CANNOT buy jewelry directly from the app. If you want, you can design all kinds of jewelry with no obligation what so ever. However, if you do end up with something you would like to purchase and the estimated price works for your budget, hit the "Add To Quote" button and Cliff will be in touch with you shortly to give you an accurate quote. The prices on the app are estimates and are usually very accurate - but Cliff will contact you with an exact quote.

Here is an example of 5 different ring variations created using the Chimera Showcase app. As you can see there are a variety of metals and gemstone shapes and sizes. Try it for yourself - you will have a great time and you just might create the PERFECT piece of jewelry for yourself.

At Chimera Design - we want you to have unique jewelry that reflects who you are - as you just learned, there are several ways to make that happen.

Design jewelry on the internet - point and click with instant prices

Here are FIVE designs based on the same ring from our Chimera Showcase. They range in price from $792.00 to $4,248.00. You can try it yourself if your FOLLOW THIS LINK.

14kt yellow with SI1 clarity G color diamonds
including a 5mm GIA certed center $4248.00

14kt white gold with an 8x6mm lab created pink sapphire
accented with natural pink sapphires. $2176.00

10kt rose gold with a VS2 D 4x6 GIA certified center diamond
accented with natural sapphires. $3074.00

14kt rose gold set with a 5.20mm natural ruby with SI2 G
accent diamonds $3,180.00

10kt white gold set with an 8mm cushion cut imitation blue sapphire
accented with cubic zirconias. $792.00

Okay - so you have seen what Cliff can do in a matter of a few minutes with ONE ring style - Click on this link and try it yourself: LINK TO THIS RING.  Remember - you can choose the metal, the center stone - including the shape, size, and what gem it is - along with the accent stones. Try it - designing a piece of jewelry online has never been easier.

If you come up with something you like, SAVE THE QUOTE and Cliff will contact you with a firm price - then 3-4 weeks later BINGO - the jewelry YOU designed with be yours!

NOTE: you are NOT placing an order. In fact, you CANNOT place an order using this link. If you put something together, you can REQUEST a quote and Cliff will get back to you with a price - so you can design all you want and order IF you want. Even if you request a quote, you are not obligated to buy anything.

Anytime you want to design jewelry, just go to the Chimera Showcase and design to your heart's content!

CLICK HERE TO GO: Chimera Showcase

Jewelry YOU design with instant pricing. Visit our Showcase today.

We now are able to offer YOU the ability to design a piece of jewelry in minutes. Our new jewelry showcase empowers you to take a basic ring design and make it all yours. You choose the gemstone, the size of the gem, the metal the ring is made from, the accent stones - everything YOU want in a piece of jewelry is at your fingertips.

Just go to the Chimera Design Showcase.

If you click on the Flexible Designs (part way down the page) EVERY style that comes up can be modified to YOUR specifications. Each change you make will come with an estimated price. So you can see the difference it makes to go from 10kt white gold to 14kt or from sterling silver to gold.

You can even choose the quality of your accent diamonds

and instantly see the price of the changes YOU make.

How It Works

1. Find the piece you want to work with.

2. Build it with YOUR choice of metal, gems, and diamonds.

3. When you have created your masterpiece Save the Quote.

4. Cliff will get you an EXACT quote for the piece.

5. Give us a deposit and we will make YOUR creation.

6. In 3-4 weeks you have YOUR custom designed jewelry.

Here is an example. This is ring style #121981

Cliff spent a few minutes and created five different versions

of this halo styled ring. Their estimated prices range from $422 to $5,016.

They are all estimated at a size 7.

The really great part is that every change you make is reflected on your screen.

This is how the basic mounting looks.

This version is sterling silver with a 6mm round amethyst center

accented by cubic zirconia. $422.00

This version is 10kt white gold set with a 5x7mm emerald cut

Arizona peridot accented with cubic zirconia. $741.00

This is 14kt gold (could be yellow or rose gold). The center stone

is a 6x4mm oval garnet accented with SI1-2 clarity, G-H color

diamonds. $980.00

This version is 14kt white gold set with an 8mm cushion cut

Chatham lab created emerald accented with SI1-2 clarity, G-H color diamonds.

Estimated price is $2,730.00

Finally, we have a platinum ring set with a 6x4mm diamond

accented with VS1-2 clarity, F-G color diamonds.

This version is $5,016.

You can visit our showcase 24 hours a day.

You can create jewelry for you and your loved ones

easily from anywhere - settle on the design and get the ball rolling.

NOTE: you are NOT placing an order. In fact, you CANNOT place an order using this link. If you put something together, you can REQUEST a quote and Cliff will get back to you with a price - so you can design all you want and order IF you want. Even if you request a quote, you are not obligated to buy anything.

You can adjust the variables to get the right look and the right price

all with a few clicks at our showcase.

Have fun - happy creating!

Custom jewelry YOU design - gold bars, new tools and MORE - we visited Stuller, Inc.

We have been doing business with Stuller since the day we opened. They supply thousands of independent jewelers in the US and around the world with pretty much anything you can imagine. The company started in the trunk of a car, but Matthew Stuller worked hard and promised fast service. Now his company has hundreds of employees and they offer Just In Time delivery. We can literally call in an order for any of the thousands of items they have in stock on any given day at 4:59 pm and it will be in our hands the following day.

Stuller LOVES independent jewelers, even little mom and pop stores like ours. In an effort to better serve us, they came up with a Bridge event - to bridge the communication between themselves and their customers. They wanted to show us everything they can do AND they wanted to hear from us any feedback we might have.

We have had an invitation to visit Stuller, Inc. for a Bridge since they started. It is not that we are their biggest account by any stretch, but we do order consistently (64 times last year) AND we order from all they areas they supply - everything from a "finding" such as a new head for Julie to re-mount your diamond in to the solder to hold a ring sizing together to a strand of freshwater keshi pearls and even the cute boxes we put our jewelry in. Stuller appreciates our loyalty and wants to keep our business.

Julie and I were excited to go for similar and different reasons. She wanted to spend some quality time with the tool department and I wanted to watch diamonds being faceted. I wanted to find ways to boost our internet sales and she wanted to learn how to do more at her bench. We both wanted to see how the heck they can get the right items in the box for us so quickly and efficiently. We went with high expectations - and the people at Stuller went above and beyond what we had imagined.

They started by reminding us how the jewelry business is constantly changing. We learned about the new ways in which the millennial generation shops and purchases. We also learned how Stuller was enabling US to more effectively market to them. Cliff zeroed in on this and spent some quality time with 2 different people at the Solution Center to learn how to fine tune our website. (Meanwhile Julie was across the hall in the Tool Department.)

Thanks to the tutoring, Cliff was able to reconfigure the Stuller Showcase program. He had been using it as an in-store tool, but NOW it is available to anyone on the web right here: Chimera Designs Showcase . The best feature, one which Cliff did not know how to integrate properly, can be found in the middle of the page - click on "Flexible Designs" and you will experience a virtual jewelry gallery that will blow your mind. You can customize hundreds of pieces of jewelry - change the color of the metal, add accent diamonds - use different shape and color center stones - all with a few clicks of your mouse or finger swipes. What is more - the estimated price shown changes to reflect each modification!

Here are two different versions of the same ring Cliff put together in about 7 minutes. They are made with different metals (rose gold vs white gold) as well as different shapes and different gems.

 

They are vastly different in price as well. The top ring is made with a genuine pink sapphire center accented by diamonds. The bottom one has an amethyst flanked by lab created alexandrite and is THOUSANDS less. The possibilities on this ONE ring are in the hundreds! The first thing Cliff did when he got home was to get our Stuller Showcase up and running. Try it - you will love it! Either of these rings can be custom made FOR you in about 3 weeks. Once you have your creation tweaked to how YOU love it, you can save the quote - let Cliff know and he will get a solid estimate and you can order your special piece of jewelry - unique to you and designed by YOU.

 

Meanwhile, Julie found a method to help her work more effectively and to help eliminate some of the physical difficulties that can come when you are hunched over a bench. One of the tool guys showed her a new, smaller version of a tool she uses now. It is more suited to her hands and will save her time and effort, and at the same time increase the flexibility of what she can do. We ordered one for her before we left Stuller. The best part is that we already have a new home for her older, bigger one.

 

Did I mention that we were allowed in to watch diamonds being faceted? The man we talked to trained for FIVE YEARS before he started doing it on his own. He explained that faceting one diamond can take a whole day or even longer. We also learned that Stuller can re-cut diamonds for us at a very reasonable rate. If you inherited an older diamond that is poorly cut or even if you chipped their girdle of a newer diamond - it can be made beautiful again for as little as $340 by the amazing diamond cutters at Stuller. (The cutting wheel spins at 4,200 rpm but is so smooth they can touch it with their fingers!)

 

We had the opportunity to hold a gold bar - the day we were in there it had a value of slightly more than $497,000! Cliff picked up almost a half a million dollars. (Now you can understand why they did NOT allow us to bring cameras into most of the facility.) Speaking of pictures - this one of Cliff putting in his two cents in one of the classes made it to the Stuller blog:

 

(Hard to imagine Cliff speaking up in a group, isn't it?)

 

We had an amazing, educational two days at Stuller. Everyone we met was very friendly - the place was spotless and amazing. They fed us the most wonderful selection of Louisiana style Cajun food you can imagine. They closed the event with a 2 minute video thanking US and then we were surrounded by dozens of employees who were clapping for us and thanking us. Julie teared up pretty quick and Matt Stuller gave her a hug. Cliff didn't cry, but his eyes were running because of a very high pollen count that seemed to flood the place right after the video. Odd - the same kind of pollen event has shown up at some Lowell Chamber of Commerce events in the past.

 

Thanks for reading this - now go have some fun designing jewelry. Click on the link below and then scroll down to FLEXIBLE DESIGNS and have at it!

 

THE CHIMERA DESIGN SHOWCASE

 

BONUS - tell Cliff or Julie that you learned about the Showcase here and they will take 15% off of the price of ANY custom piece of

jewelry YOU design.

 

 

Two beautiful engagement rings we are VERY excited about.

 

We are starting the new year very excited about some new offerings

from one of our vendors. This ring is elegant and simple,

but it is extremely well built and durable.

 

We also have a relationship with a diamond cutter from New Jersey!

Michael stopped by last fall and we were BLOWN away

by his diamonds. He cuts them himself and he specializes

in VS1-2 clarity and I-J color (near colorless).

His diamonds are precision cut to Ideal proportions.

They SPARKLE like crazy and are a great value.

(see one below)

 

The top two are computer images, the images above and below

are actual pictures of the ring set with

one of Michael's 

.50ct Ideal Cut VS2 I color diamond.

 

This ring can be set with any size or shape diamond.

Here are some prices using VS2 I-J ideal cut round diamonds.

.33 ct $1,618 to $1,818

.50 ct $2,018 to $2,218

.75 ct $3,218 to $3,418

1.00 ct $4,718 to $4,918

 

 

 

If you need a little more bling, we offer the same ring

with .20 ctw of diamonds bead set in the shank.

 

This ring can also be set with any size or shape diamond.

Here are some prices with Ideal cut diamonds from Michael:

.33 ct center $2,045 to $2,245

.50 ct center $2,545 to $2,745

.75 ct center $3,695 to $3,845

1.00 ct center $5,125 to $5,445

 

This is one of Michael's diamonds.

.58 ct VS2 I - Ideal Cut

Sparkles like crazy - 

 

Two mokume gane rings from one piece of metal.

 

One of Julie's most romantic creations are when she

takes one piece of metal and creates two rings.

This set was made for Curtis and Christen.

We used three diamonds that were passed down in the family

and combines them with Curtis & Christen's birthstones.

 

Curtis wanted a Mokume band with no gems.

 

Christen was happy to wear all the bling!

 

 

In the video/slide show below there are pictures explaining

the process of making two rings from one piece of metal.

That part starts at 1:38.

 

The 4Cs of Diamond Grading Explained by GIA

The Gemological Institute of America (GIA) invented the Diamond Grading System that is now used all over the world. They came up with the system in order to standardize the language used by jewelers to explain the characteristics of diamonds. 

This four minute video will be extremely helpful if you are shopping for a diamond or even if you just want to understand more about these valuable gemstones.

Cliff Yankovich is a 1998 GIA Diamonds Graduate. He loves to teach people about diamonds and believes that once someone understands the grading system, buying a diamond is a much more enjoyable experience.

We have this video and more useful jewelry information on our website.

Click this link to learn more about jewelry: Jewelry Information.

We can make YOUR dream diamond ring at Chimera Design

Juli saw a ring she loved on the net. She brought in the picture below.

As much as she loved the ring, she wanted her own version of it.

 

First change, she loves marquise cut diamonds, so she wanted a marquise center.

Secondly, she was not fond of all the diamonds on the shank of the ring.

 

 



 Another great aspect of this job was that Juli wanted to use diamonds from her

current wedding ring, above, in her new ring.

 

NO PROBLEM - we were able to use the two

marquise on the side as well as the baguettes. Juli wanted to get a larger center diamond,

so we brought some in for her to choose from and she found a lovely

1.05 ct SI2 clarity, D color.

 

Above and below are two CAD images of Juli's new ring.

At the top you can see we saved the split shank part of the design

while eliminating all the bead set diamonds on the shank.

 

Below is a CAD image of the top of Juli's new ring.

We accented her new center diamond with the two

marquise and all the baguettes from her current ring.

 

 

 

Here are a couple pictures of the finished ring.

It is very elegant - in fact, when my diamond supplier saw these

pictures, she described the ring as "a piece of art".

 

We couldn't agree more.

 



Gorgeous Estate Piece - 1.63 ctw 3 Stone Diamond Ring

This stunner is in our Estate case - it is a 18kt white gold ring with a total of 1.63 ctw of round brilliant cut diamonds. They are SI1 clarity and G-H in color. Center is .55 ct and the sides are .54 ct each. They are Ideal or near Ideal cut - the sparkle is wonderful. Size 5.5, can be sized. Complete ring weighs 4.8 grams. New this ring would be well over $7,500.00.

 

You can own this for less than $5,000.00

 

$4,850.00 to be exact!

More Estate Jewelry: 3 rings at $365 or LESS. Two smoky quartz and one diamond solitaire.

 

Here is a very nice solitaire for only $325.00.

.20 ct round brilliant cut diamond, SI1 clarity, H-I color.

14kt Size 6 - as you can see it is in excellent condition.

 

14kt yellow gold with an 11x15mm oval smoky quartz.

Excellent condition - $285.00

 

Make a statement with this big 20mm heart shaped

smoky quartz mounted in 14kt yellow gold.

Excellent condition - $365.00.