Gem Design Jewelers — Attraction in Town of Tonawanda

I want to extend a massive thank you to Jeremy and Alisa for not only making me my perfect wedding band but for the way they have treated my fiancé and I! We originally had met them at a Buffalo Bridal Show. I adored the concepts they offered there with the potential of custom work. More importantly however, I appreciated the joy they exuded just in speaking about their work and how they wanted to help me create something truly unique for myself that will make me not only giddy to look at on my wedding day, but 50 years from now as well! The passion they had for not just the craftsmanship of jewelry design but in seeing the customer light up with their new beautiful treasure so carefully and skillfully created by Jeremy and his team absolutely captivated me! The first time we set foot into their store we were cheerfully greeted by name, by Alisa. She and Jeremy immediately asked me what every other jewelry store we had gone into had completely ignored or completely neglected to even attempt to ask. "What would YOU like?" Such a simple thing it seems, but I was instantly elated with the question! We had already been to numerous stores, most of which large, nationally know ones. Each of them blatantly ignored what I had requested. Simple, elegant, with small stones and it needed to match my engagement band. One store even laughed at me...they told me I should consider getting a NEW engagement band because it was to complicated a ring to match a wedding band to and the woman told me my ring was "sad" because the stones were all small and every woman really wants large stones. (Apparently the woman was not aware that my fiancé had actually purchased that ring from her store months prior..) They tried to convince me over and over to buy larger and larger rings, cradles and a second engagement band. Then they tried to convince my fiancé to get their store credit card and proceeded to guilt him by using me in saying that the only way to make me happy on our wedding day was to purchase all of these things... I was furious! They did not care what I wanted at all and it was as simple as that! So that's when we remembered Gem Designs. We hadn't gone there originally purely on the basis that at the time, we lived almost an hour away. Big mistake on our parts for not getting in the car the very first time and sparing ourselves the time and frustration spent on these large chain businesses that see you as nothing more than just another sale and commission! We are treated like welcome guests and friends at Gem Designs! Jeremy and Alisa wanted to make ME a stunning ring that would make ME happy! It was as simple as that! They made me feel great about my engagement band and immediately began creating a band design to fit it perfectly! They gave me a quote that day which was a FRACTION of the cost all the other stores had given. At no point did they try to upsell or suggest anything that was moving away from the concepts I requested. They were a joy to talk with and I forgot I was talking to the owners of a business offering a sale to me. It felt more like we were friends chatting about a fun project that was just about to start! The results of that project were breathtaking! The workmanship on my band is phenomenal and it was custom made by Jeremy to fit my engagement band in every detail! I love it! Now we get to start the next project with choosing a band for my fiancé and I wouldn't consider going anywhere else for his! We are now and will always be faithful customers of Gem Designs, even if it means driving a few hours to get there! Thank you Jeremy and Alisa!!!! We will be...

I was (and continue to be) thrilled with my experience at Gem Design. My girlfriend (now fiancé) had a unique cut in mind, which I later learned is called an "elongated hexagon cut." So armed with screenshots from Pinterest, I set out to find something that she would love and I could afford. In an effort to find the best circumstances possible and get as much information as I could, I set up appointments at six local jewelers.

The first positive experience with the folks at Gem Design was over the phone making the appointment, as they were one of only two stores to specifically order stones to show me at the appointment. Originally I had been directed by my significant other to consider the stone to be moissanite; she was interested in a ring that was nice but also budget friendly, knowing we'd be sharing plenty of other expenses in planning a wedding. However, with the unique cut and a stone less popular than a diamond, some stores told me they wouldn't be able to get what I wanted. Others were noncommittal. Gem Design sounded incredibly confident over the phone that they could perfectly execute whatever plan I had in mind.

At each of the six jewelry stores, those helping me tried to convince me to go with a diamond instead of moissanite for varying reasons. Now, I did ended up choosing an incredible lab grown diamond, but that's because when talking to Jeremy, the goldsmith at Gem Design, I felt like I was learning about how and why these stones are used in certain scenarios. He explained that with this ring's bezel design, moissanite may not hold up as well as a diamond when the bezel was being molded around it. Susannah, who is one of the store's gemologists, then went into detail about how similar the cost of moissanite would be to a lab grown diamond, which solidified my confidence that I could not only still get the ring I knew my girlfriend wanted, but in a better quality than I had originally thought. And, they emphasized that if I still preferred moissanite, that they could and would be happy to make the ring the way I desired, they just wanted me to have the information, which was my priority in the beginning of this process. I felt I wasn't being "upsold" but rather educated on the reasons why they (and in turn, the other stores as well) had suggested to go that direction.

After my original appointments, there were only two stores who told me they could make the ring I wanted, and Gem Design separated themselves as the frontrunner within the following week. I was concerned about getting the ring in time; I hoped to propose while on vacation about a month later, and the other jewelers I made appointments with weren't confident it could be done in time. Jeremy assured me that I would have the ring in time, and I did, picking it up a few days earlier than I expected to.

Throughout the entire process, I felt the people at GDJ had my best interests in mind, and their confidence, their workflow, and their communication, gave me peace of mind. My fiancé raved about the design and the look of the stone, while several people have commented about the impressive quality and craftsmanship of the ring as a whole.

I cannot say enough about the quality of the jewelry and the people at Gem Design Jewelers. I had a lot of fun designing this engagement ring with them, and I am already looking forward to being able to go back to design custom...

Jeremy at Gem Design and his fantastic staff have earned all of my jewelry business pretty much forever. The attention to detail and customer service is completely unmatched in every regard. I recommend all my friends and family to go there for any needs.

Jeremy, the owner, does phenomenal custom jewelry himself, in-house. My wife's engagement ring was done by Jeremy himself, as was her wedding band. The attention he gave me was extremely personalized, and his workmanship is unmatched. Jeremy wants the finished product to be perfect, so he never up-sells something unreasonable or outside your price range. There were times where he talked me down from something that would have been "too much", because of his honesty and commitment to quality. We worked on a custom design for over a week, and I started feeling bad, thinking I was taking too much time. Jeremy kept assuring me, he wants the result to be perfect, there's no need to rush. He was right.

You might think, "what about his prices?" Best in town. No question. I stopped at a "competitors" store that had a 50% off sale, and Jeremy's REGULAR prices beat them handily. Not to mention, better quality, better displays, more modern pieces. I needed a white-gold chain to go with a pendant, so he found the perfect length and cut that he knew would awe, then reduced the price because I was buying the two together. I never asked for a deal, Jeremy just did it anyways.

Gem Design does top-quality repair and restoration of faded pieces. My wife and I have had possibly a dozen items cleaned, tightened, polished, repaired, etc. If for some reason the team doesn't feel 100% confident, they'll send you to the right spot. We had an antique piece that Jeremy didn't know well enough, so he referred us to a trusted colleague. When my wife's family visits from out of town, they have started bringing their jewelry to Gem Design for upkeep. Honesty and professionalism at the highest levels.

If Gem Design hadn't already won over my trust and loyalty with their business model, they also have a giant fluffy Newfoundland named Vader, who is possible the best "shop-dog" I've ever met. Is there a more complete package anywhere?

I cannot fully describe the professionalism, honesty, and quality of Jeremy and the Gem Design team. They have won all my business, forever, and I recommend them to friends, family, neighbors, anyone. You'll never have a better experience at any other store, period. Gem Design is the absolute full package in...