Green Lake Jewelry Works — Attraction in Bellevue

I came to Green Lake Jewelry for my first resizing experience because of the consistent 5 star reviews. Green Lake Jewelry Works recently won an award for the best jeweler on Washington Wedding Day as well. Unfortunately, all of this is a surprise to me because we had a terrible experience at this store a few months ago, and I will not be returning. I was gifted an aquamarine ring for my wedding from my mother-in-law's collection and I came in to get it resized, which should be a pretty normal operation. They said it would take 2 weeks, we heard nothing for 2 weeks and called to get an update. After the full two weeks had elapsed, we got a call where they told us they had chipped the main stone on the ring. They did go to a gem show to find a replacement stone and insisted that they tried their best to find an exact match for the stone, but while my original stone was blue, the replacement stone they got for us presents more as a cloudy gray. We brought up this concern and they said it's because of the light, but when I compare the original stone to the new one in all kinds of lighting conditions, they look completely different. I don't understand how the stone could get chipped during a normal resizing operation and it breaks my heart that my mother-in-law's gift got damaged, with an obviously different stone that may not be the same quality. Overall, the process was very slow and communication was poor, and they ended up damaging my ring, and while they did replace the stone and set the original damaged stone in a pendant, the replacement stone in the ring looks NOTHING like the original.

I suggest you take your meaningful jewelry pieces down the street to Joseph Jewelry, we recently had a ring resized there and they not only finished it in less than 5 days, they did an impeccable job.

I understand that accidents happen, but it's how you remedy those accidents that makes all the difference, and unfortunately with the communication lapses and replacing the damaged stone with an inferior stone, I recommend staying away from this place and I would not entrust them with any jewelry that is...

We are so happy we found Ben and the team at Green Lake Jewelry Works to design and make our ring. I am so in love with the final product: a black Tahitian pearl with rustic diamonds, unplated white gold, and an overarching ocean/water design.

I have always wanted a Tahitian black pearl for my engagement ring, but had yet to find one that actually looked timeless and delicate enough while still being unique. My fiance and I met with a few designers before finding Green Lake, but no one really understood our vision, or weren't able to produce anything. We were so exasperated that we thought maybe we were being too difficult or that what we wanted just wasn't feasible.

We had gone to Green Lake initially to look at some loose rustic diamonds, and we liked their work so we called them to see if we could speak with a designer about a quote. Ben called us back and spoke to us very briefly, and we gave him our pinterest board. Within a couple days we had an email from him with several beautiful sketches. I was stunned that he was able to grasp what we were looking for with so little information to work with. From there we gave him some feedback and each iteration he came back with was even more perfect.

The entire process was so smooth and we had so much fun with it. Ben is a super talented and professional designer and he was able to offer his expertise while also taking into account our feedback. We couldn't have asked for a better experience. Every person we had an interaction with either at the shop or on the phone was awesome, as well!

I think it's important to note that we actually live in Venice, CA, so most of the collaboration with Ben was via the design page. We went up to Seattle to visit my fiance's family and that was when we wrapped up the final details of the design and moved on the molding and casting steps. It was amazing how easy it was to work on the ring even not living in Seattle. That said, the showroom is so beautiful and it's easy to spend more time there than planned just looking at all the other...

Roald Dahl said, "Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." This place is magic. You can go other places, but I'll save you the time: Whimsical, warm, inviting interior Espresso Bar The most gorgeous Montana sapphires- in colors you would never expect Whatever you want, you can find it here: practically impossible restorations, resizing/repair/resetting on delicate antique pieces, a showroom of gorgeous timeless basics like beautiful gold hoop earrings or pendant necklaces, and the ability to custom design the jewelry of your dreams.

A list of what I have had worked on: An Opal ring given to my dad by my mom when I was born- that my mom gave me for my 30th birthday that was run over by a car. The top of the flattened ring was completely reconstructed to match the original state, and four tiny opals were procured to match the two remaining. The end result exceeded what I could have imaged, and was even more beautiful than the original version. Several resizing of Victorian and Georgian rings to a 4 3/4 size, soldering and resetting/replacement of stones on antique rings, and restoration of a Victorian snake ring (also run over by a car). In zero of these cases was any of the work done even visible- no sizing marks, no indication that this wasn't the piece's original state. A custom Ankh necklace - a rework of an existing piece, and set with a stunning Montana sapphire that I found at the store. Currently in the process of creating a custom art deco snake ring in rose gold with black diamonds.

Jewelry is very personal, symbolic, and sentimental. What we adorn ourselves with is a statement to others about who we are, what speaks to us, and what we deem important. If any of that matters to you, go here- the customer service, the individual care, and the level of craftsmanship are...