Stories From The Jewelry Box

  Scott and I have six kids, ranging in age from 15-24. So far, no weddings (thank goodness - not ready for that yet!) But we do have a "bonus" daughter - Sarah.   Sarah started working for us in our jewelry store, Scott's Custom Jewelers , right out of high school. She was toying with the idea of being a jeweler, and wanted to test the waters.   We loved having her with us, and as we grew and moved our custom jewelry store out of downtown and into Fairlawn, OH, Sarah followed us. She studied Jewelry Craft at Kent State University, and while she went to school, she continued to work for us part time.   Working with Sarah was a treat. She is a feisty little Italian/Irish beauty who not only knew how to make jewelry, but was a great sales associate as well. She is engaging, sweet and really knew how to make our customer's happy. Most people assumed she was one of ours (and we may have let them believe it, because we felt like she was!).   So, when

Nothing evokes more terror in a guy than those two little words. Diamond shopping. We see it all the time at Scott's Custom Jewelers . That look of bewilderment. It's not the "I do's" that scare them. It's trying to understand all of those letters and numbers that are supposed to make diamond engagement ring buying sooo easy. SI1, J-K, cushion cut, 1.50ct? It's traumatic. In reality, if you put five women in a line, all with the same color hair, same height, same weight and same measurements, you would still be able to tell them apart. Those numbers are simply diamond criteria to help guide you when you select your diamond. Heck, you can tell the Rockette's apart and they're supposed to match!   So, let's begin with a rundown of the 4C's of diamond buying, in lay terms.   Color:   Diamonds are graded by their color against a white background UPSIDEDOWN. That's right, diamond graders turn the stones so the po

Diamond flowers float in this beautiful 14k yellow gold custom designed pendant Just when we think we've done every possible custom jewelry design around, inspiration will strike. Thank goodness, too! Because that's what makes this job so exciting. Not only do we do custom jewelry for our customers in Akron, Ohio and Dublin, Ohio, but now, with the web, we have customers all over the globe! Tamara contacted us from out of state about restyling some jewelry for her. She had some loose diamonds and old gold that were not her style anymore. She wanted something simple, yet kind of funky. And she wanted to wear it with everything. Enter our floating diamond circle pendant ! We've done these custom diamond pendants before - in fact, I have one myself. We use watch crystals and then trap the diamonds between the glass for a great modern look. (I want to place a tiny hammer next to mine so in case of a "diamond emergency" I can just break the glass!) Le

A custom diamond key pendant created at Scott's Custom Jewelers. Back in the day, a woman's diamond engagement ring usually started out on the small side. The eighties were known for simple diamond solitaire rings in yellow gold. A gold wedding band, with some small, channel set diamonds followed. Then maybe a diamond guard for a one year anniversary gift. Usually, around year 10 or 20, there was a complete diamond upgrade. New center stone (hopefully much bigger!) and even more diamond bling. Not everyone traded in their first diamond wedding set. It was generally pushed to the back of the jewelry box, with the mood rings and tangled herringbone chains. Sue had that jewelry box. Here's the thing. We women are sentimental fools. We don't throw anything away. Heck, I've got six kids worth of baby teeth in my jewelry box! (It's pretty gruesome, actually - Law and Order would think I'm a perp!) And if there was a way to wear that first diamond agai

A custom diamond pave dog tag started the trend at Scott's Custom Jewelers. Over the past year, an interesting jewelry trend has emerged at Scott's Custom Jewelers in both our Akron and Columbus Ohio jewelry stores - the return of the 60s icon: the dog tag pendant. Maybe it's a military influence. Certainly, with all of the "conflicts" going on in the world, dog tags are pretty much mainstream now. Or it could be a celebrity thing. Everyone from Jay Z to Jessica Alba has been sporting some sort of tag bling recently. Whatever the reason, these cool, flashy custom pendants are all the rage. It started out with this beauty. Gloria had a really neat diamond pave ring that had a wave shape to it. She didn't wear it much anymore, but liked the abstract design. So, Scott used his mad jewelry design skills, and our CAD (computer aided design) technology and created this gorgeous diamond pave pendant. The cool part was that the dog tag looked like we simp

An old diamond gets a new life with this custom diamond pendant from Scott's Custom Jewelers If you've got family, then eventually, you get their "stuff". Whether it's a box of miscellaneous jewelry, or ancient garden tools, something has to be done with it (Scott got tools from his grandparents - and since we were newly married and homeowners, it was a wonderful gift!). Every week we have at least one appointment at Scott's Custom Jewelers in either our Akron, Ohio or Columbus OH jewelry store that starts with a box of dazzling treasures. The meeting generally goes like this. Customer: "I don't know if any of this is real or not." Scott: "Well, it's not imaginary, so it must be real!" There's not a whole lot of jewelry jokes you can make, so we roll with it. Cindy was one of those people. Her childless aunt and uncle had passed away, leaving her with a lifetime of jewelry to sort through. Some of the gold pieces

A custom diamond mother's ring made of white and rose gold has a terrific story behind it. When Julie tragically lost her young husband several years ago, after six months of marriage, she wasn't ready to put her wedding ring away.  She continued wearing it on her right hand to honor her short marriage. Well, life has a way of going on, and Julie found herself in a new relationship.  And while she didn't want to look married, she also didn't want to change it too much. She was living in Columbus, OH at the time, and stopped in our store , Scott's Custom Jewelers, to talk about custom jewelry options.  She met with our son, Zack, and told him her story.  She loved what we could do, but she unfortunately, was moving.  To Akron!  So she decided to settle into the area first and visit our Fairlawn, OH store after the move. A few months later, she made an appointment and showed up with her gorgeous newborn baby daughter (seriously, the baby could be a model, she&

A custom diamond ring with an unusual story - told by Scott's Custom Jewelers On the surface, this custom diamond ring is certainly stunning.  A crisscross of diamond bands.  A yellow princess cut diamond, accented with a custom diamond halo.  Beautiful. But the story goes deeper than just a ring.  The intense yellow diamond started out as a beloved pet dog.  After he passed, the couple send the dog's cremated remains to a company that specialized in manufacturing ashes into diamonds.  No kidding - the company is legit.  It took almost a year, but then one day, this gorgeous yellow diamond arrived in the mail, complete with authenticity papers. The couple knew they wanted a diamond ring, but the design had to be perfect.  So they made an appointment at Scott's Custom Jewelers and the fun began! Scott listened to the story, and with the use of  CAD (computer aided design) technology , he worked directly with them to come up with this style.  The band, when it i