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

Matthew, Meaghan, and The Ring.

Once upon a time in a land not so far away, there was a young man

named Matthew with a sweetheart named Meaghan.

Their quest for a beautiful diamond and a just right ring

for Meaghan (happily) brought them to Chimera design.

 Where they found just the kind of diamond Matthew had in

mind and together they designed a perfect ring for Meaghan.

They brought the ring to the beach for its very own photo session!

Here is a close up of the ring taken right before Matthew whisked

it away to put it on Meaghan's finger.

Big thanks to Matthew & Meaghan for sharing these great pictures with us!

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!"

Cad-Cam jewelry design at Chimera.

Cheryl and Dan stopped in with a couple of rings

and a tennis bracelet containing diamonds of various sizes.

They want us to make one ring using the diamonds.

Here are a few ideas we came up with using GemVision.

We would love to take your diamonds and/or gemstones and make a new piece of unique jewelry just for you.

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 -



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.

Custom ring in 14kt X1 white gold.

Jeff and Heather decided to celebrate their years together by allowing us to take diamonds from 3 different rings to create one special one for Heather.

We started with this CAD image, but ended up adding 4 more small diamonds down the side.

Heather was sporting an ear-to-ear grin when she left with this ring on her finger last night.

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.

Engagement rings from Chimera Design.

When it is time for you to get engaged, Chimera

would love to be a part of the process.

Our prices on diamonds are extremely competitive and our

goal is to educate you so that choosing a diamond is easy an fun.

If you want the classic look of a single diamond mounted in
a gold solitaire mounting, we have many styles and price ranges in stock.

If you want to design you own engagement ring or

wedding set, we can handle that, too.

We have the latest in CAD-CAM technology that

allows us to bring your dream alive in diamonds and precious metal.

We welcome the opportunity to be a part of this
big event in your life.