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.

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.

 



Learn About Making Jewelry: Lost Wax Casting

Informed shoppers are the best kind. We love to share what we

do with the people who come in to Chimera Design.

This is the first of two videos we hope will explain a little bit

about how jewelry is made. In simple terms, in can be fabricated from

the metal or it can be cast from a wax that is carved by hand

or from a CAD/CAM system.

 

This is the second of two videos about

making fine jewelry. This one is about Lost Wax Casting.

 

 

Here is the first video about

JEWLRY FABRICATION

Video Sample of engagement rings at Chimera Design.

Please take a look at some of the engagement rings we have created over the past few months. Some have been hand fabricated and some of them were created using CAD-CAM techniques.

Versatile, sparkly wedding set in white gold.

We just put this set together for Scott and his bride to be. The center diamond is a .65 ct VS1 clarity, H color oval accented with 13-1.5mm round diamonds (.19ctw). We are usually very happy with the pictures we take, but these do not do justice to the nice sparkle created by the accent stones.

It is worth mentioning that this wedding set can accommodate any size or shape center diamond - you can go round, princess, marquise, oval, - or what ever your heart desires.

We made a sparkler for Cindi and Dale.

 Cindi and Dale were nice enough to stop in and let us

put together Cindi's vision of a perfect ring. We started with

an ideal cut center diamond and accented it with

six .10 rounds in an X1 white gold setting that should

never need rhodium plating.

Cindi was pleased with the results. Here is some of what

she had to say in an email:

"I was going to email you anyway to tell you how much I love my ring. It is fabulous, and exactly what I wanted. Please pass that along to everyone who had a hand in creating it. It's been a big hit with friends and co-workers, and I'm passing along your name every chance I get.

Again, thanks so much for everything. I seriously can't stop staring at it!"

Custom rings for bride and groom at Chimera Design.

 Mike had some ideas for Suzy's ring. He wanted the center diamond to be complemented by sapphires and his vision for the sapphires was for them to be "bermed" into the ring. The finished ring is in the picture above.

 Suzy loved the ring and she and Mike worked together on two bands to be soldered on either side of her engagement ring. We flush set sapphires opposite the diamond and flush set diamonds opposite the sapphires to create the ring you see above.

Mike did not want any gemstones in his ring, but he did want to reflect the pattern of the "berms" in Suzy's ring. So we did that - you can see the results above.

Mike and Suzy are heading off into the sunset (they are moving out west) with their custom rings - all cast in 14kt X1 white (X1 has a platinum dirivitive in the allow and should never have to be rhodium plated). We wish them all the best out West!

Exquisite floral pattern diamond ring.

There are 150 diamonds in this 10mm wide ring.

 Look at the detail and craftsmanship that make this beauty sparkle.

This sparkler is available in your choice of white or yellow gold.

Custom 3 stone marquise cut diamond ring.

Sharon came in with some rings and a couple of ideas.

The first one was to use the marquise cut diamonds from a couple of

rings along with some round ones to creat one three stone ring.

Cliff got on his GemVision and offered her sever versions of rings

using her diamonds. She chose the one you see above.

We cut the wax and let her try it on her finger to show her how it would fit her hand and how the diamonds would look in it.



Here are a couple pictures of the finished ring - 14kt yellow gold.



We would love to make a special piece of jewelry for you -



New ring from Jere Keyes. Sterling & 14kt yellow gold.

 Our associate Jere Keyes just

dropped this ring off to us.

 The ring is made of 14kt yellow gold and sterling.

It weighs 11.3 grams and is size 6.5.

 As you can see it has a balanced (squared off) shank.

It is set with a 6mm round created tanzanite.

This ring can be yours for $650.00.

We can also make one for you with your choice

of a center stone and your choice of metals.

Dave and Emily: Your wish is our command.

We take great pride in making jewelry that YOU want.

Recently, Jere and I had some fun with Dave and Emily. They came in looking for something out of the ordinary, but they wanted it based on a ring they had seen. (Dave had a picture on his phone - see it below.)

 Emily liked the basic design structure of the ring - she liked the two stones accenting the center diamond and enjoyed the swooping piece of gold on each side of the ring shank. However, she wanted to personalize the ring with different colors and shapes.

Emily's idea was to incorporate a couple of black diamonds along with some triangle shaped rubies in her white gold ring. Dave wanted a great looking diamond for the center and we found him an ideal cut .57 ct SI2, G color that would jump and sparkle in Emily's ring.

 Everyone was happy with the end result. We made a custom ring with the elements Emily wanted, set with a sparkler for a center stone and stayed within the budget Dave had set aside for the ring. (Not only do we respect your design wishes, but we pay attention to your budget as well. When you tell Cliff a specific dollar amount, he doesn't come back with a projected price over that amount.)

It is noteworthy that the ring we made for Emily and Dave is much more substantial than the ring they showed us in the picture. The shank of our ring (see above) is thick and substantial and will last for decades. The diamonds and rubies are held in with heavier tips and prongs.

We asked Dave how Emily responded to the ring after the week-end he planned on giving it to her this is what he told us: "The weekend was alot of fun and she loved the ring. The ring was so much better than either of us could have imagined. Thanks so much."

It was our pleasure Dave. Thank you very much.

Custom diamond and sapphire ring for Jessie in Norway.

We were contacted by Jessie from Norway (yes, the country) - she had missed an opportunity to purchase the ring in the picture above. She wondered 2 things - 1. Could we make a ring like this; and 2. Could we make it WITHOUT the diamonds mounted across the top and bottom.

Yes and yes!

We started by finding her a diamond - she chose a .84 ct Yehuda VS2 H that had excellent proportions and sparkles like a champ. Then I tracked down some triangle cut natural sapphires to accent the sides. (Those were pretty tough to find!)

Once we had the dimensions of the center diamond and the accent diamonds (3.00x1.50mm marquise cut) we sent Jessie some computer images of her ring to look over.

The ring was going to be made in two parts - in order to faithfully replicate the look of the vintage ring she loved, we had to make a seperate top portion for the main diamond.

Jessie gave us the go-ahead and the finished product (cast in 14kt X1 white gold) is just what she wanted.

The vintage look comes across loud and clear - and we are now officially

Chimera Design International!

We LOVE to make custom jewelry - we would love to make something for YOU.

12 diamonds symbolize 12 years together.

John and Karen decided to mark their 12 years together with a new ring for Karen. For the center diamond Karen was originally thinking about a princess cut, but we got her interested in a radiant cut. Jason at Yehuda had a gorgeous 1.01 ct that was almost perfectly square and Karen thought it would be a great centerpiece for her special ring.

We began with several computer renderings - this is one of them.

And here is the finished product.

We cast the ring in 14kt X1 white gold. X1 does not need to be rhodium plated. We would love to build a ring just for YOU.

Two people in love, a ring, and a trip to Mexico.

Once upon a time - actually it was late November 2009. A couple of love birds - let's call them Brian and Erica - came into the store with the goal of creating an engagement ring for Erica. They wisely brought in some old gold and we were also able to incorporate several diamonds they had into the new design. The old gold took care of a good part of the cost of the new ring and we were able to use their diamonds to really light up the ring.

Here is photographic proof that creating a ring at Chimera is FUN! Look at the smiles on Brian and Erica to say nothing of the balding old guy on the right.

Once we had a general idea of what Erica wanted in a ring, we began to exchange a flurry of emails containing design ideas and images with the goal of having the ring complete before they left for Mexico just after Christmas. You can see the final design above, with the finished product in the two pictures below.

Erica's ring has 12 little stones surrounding the 1 ct center. We used two of her diamonds to accent the center and four more were channel set (two on each side of the ring). We also bezel set a small diamond on the front and back side of the ring for a little extra bling. (I call 'em headlights and taillights.) This ring sparkles in every direction.

More smiles from Mexico. Brian timed his proposal to Erica perfectly - it was on New Years Eve right before fireworks lit up the sky (nice touch, Brian). Ahhh, Life is Good: Mexico - fireworks - sunshine - and a sparkler for Erica's hand. It doesn't get much better than that.

If you can sketch it - we can make it.

A gentleman came into the store with a sketch he made for an anniversary present for his wife. There are 10 diamonds signifying their 10 years together and he wanted the birthstones of their two children in the middle.

His sketch became a CAD-CAM image (we actually give him two styes to choose from - one had the diamonds set with prongs and the one he chose had them set in channels). Once he picked the style and chose the birthstones for the center, the ring was cast and the stones were set.

Here is the finished ring in 14kt white gold with .30ctw diamonds and two 4mm birthstones.

If you can draw it, then chances are pretty good we can make it for you.

Sterling initial ring with pave set gemstones.

The amazing Jere Keyes has a new one for us.

This sterling ring has pave set bling on the top. Your choice of simulated gemstones - make it a ring to celebrate birthstones or just some fun on your finger! It can also have your initials on each side of the gems.

Notice the nice, heavy shank with a balanced or squared off bottom.

All this for $300.00 - what a deal.
We would be happy to make one just for you.