G.V. Jewelry — Attraction in Lake View Township

We first met Julio when I was finishing my master’s degree at Northwestern and my husband and I were dating (long-distance) and began talking about getting married. After doing some ring shopping together, my husband ended up working with Julio to design my engagement ring in 2014, and then my matching wedding bands in 2015 after visiting all the local jewelers where we currently live failed to yield any decent results between style, budget, and quality.

So almost two months ago, about a week before our 7th wedding anniversary, I noticed the center diamond in my engagement ring seemed a bit loose. I started to panic, especially since I don’t live in the Chicago area anymore, so I thought I’d give a local jeweler a try. A friend recommended this particular place, and their website even says they work with custom designs and do repairs. Well, visiting that place was a HUGE mistake. After lots of tears and anxiety on my part, my husband just calmly suggested we reach out to Julio and see what he could do, since he made my rings in the first place. We decided to bite the bullet and make the 6-hour drive to Chicago and it was 100% worth it.

Per usual, Julio was wonderfully accommodating, and where the other shop kept insisting my ring would have to be completely melted down and re-created to be “correct,” Julio assured us all it needed was some routine maintenance. My rings are very nature-inspired, where the center diamond is set in a modified bezel that’s actually a flower, and then the rest of the setting and the two wedding bands are leaves that come up to meet the flower in the middle. Julio was able to adjust the petals of the flower to make the diamond more secure, and in the process, the diamond now gets more light shining through it so it’s even more brilliant than it was before. He also checked all the small accent diamonds, gave my rings a good polish, and gave them a fresh rhodium plating, all in one day. Additionally, Kelsey sent us a detailed appraisal for insurance purposes.

The prices were so reasonable that my husband and I still saved money driving 6 hours each way with these crazy 2022 gas prices and getting a hotel, over having the local shop completely butcher my rings. Julio is a true artist and craftsman, and still the most honest jeweler we’ve met anywhere. Both he and Kelsey are a pleasure to work with, and G. V. Jewelry is worth the visit whether you live in Chicagoland or not. My husband and I are fairly certain we won’t even bother...

My fiance and I had a stone that we hoped to set in a chunky, somewhat unconventional engagement ring, but we didn't have a lot of clarity on what we wanted. In our search for local, minority-owned businesses to support, we found G.V. Jewelry online and were encouraged by the positive reviews.

We met with Julio for an initial consultation and he was warm and friendly, letting us know that we could send some examples of rings I liked for initial inspiration. We did, and Julio sent some initial CAD renderings of his idea. That was a helpful start, and I requested some changes in a series of back-and-forth emails over the course of several weeks.

Julio was gracious and responsive each time, even when I asked him to reverse a change I'd asked for because I no longer liked how it looked. He also made a few adjustments after I saw the wax model.When we were finally ready to fabricate, the ring was ready just a few days after we brought the stone in.

I absolutely love how my ring turned out! It also stacked perfectly with my wedding band. Highly recommend Julio for his patience and attention to customer requests, and for his beautiful craftsmanship. Julio has set another stone for me and I love that piece, too. I'm sure we'll go back to him for other custom and...

If you are thinking that in a small business you will have a better experience or better customer service than anywhere else, maybe yes but not in this place

My wife and I decided to choose this place to make our wedding bands. My wife showed the owner a photo of the ring design that she liked. He replied saying that he could match that design. He told us that he would make a 3D printed mold similar to the final ring to give us an idea of ​​what it would look like. (He did not ask for the photo to be sent to him so he could work on the design)

First visit, we arrived and found a straight 3D ring which did not look anything like the one shown to him, he said it was fine that he would make another one, we returned a second time and he only made a small curvature in this one, insisting on moving towards to make the deposit (Direct quote: we need to pull the trigger)

My wife and I asked him in the most calm and empathetic way possible, telling him that the ring in the photo looked different, Julio said that we were just looking for an excuse not to make the deposit, he had the attitude of a disgusting seller who only wants your money.

The young staff were very friendly and attentive, they have a great road ahead of them, but not in this poor...