Diamonds Forever, an independent jeweler in Point Loma Plaza in the Midway District, has trained gemologists to serve every customer’s special needs.
“We specialize in custom engagement rings and estate jewelry,” said Diamonds Forever owner Jenny Seligmann, whose shop has been at 3689 Midway Drive, Suite A, next door to Sports Chalet in the mall for six years. “We carry two designer lines for ladies’ engagement rings and then a couple lines for men’s bands.”
Diamonds Forever is widely recognized as one of San Diego’s premiere jewelry boutiques, known not only for its custom-made engagement rings but also for the work it does repairing jewelry and luxury watches as well as handling insurance appraisals.
Seligmann noted Diamonds Forever buys preowned jewelry from the public, fixes it up and resells it “for a fraction of the ‘new’ price, so it’s a real good value for people.”
The store’s creative team of Gemological Institute of America (GIA)-trained jewelers fashions handcrafted, one-of-a-kind engagement rings designed to individual specifications.
The company’s website, diamondsforeversandiego.com, notes that the store’s understanding of metalwork, coupled with its knowledge of gemology, allows its jewelers to “create jewelry that is unparalleled, built for longevity and designed to showcase the stone’s natural beauty.”
Superior knowledge, Seligmann said, gives Diamonds Forever’s jewelers the “edge” in collaborating with clients.
“We’ll show them different things that maybe they haven’t considered or that they could add in there,” Seligmann said. “Then we design it, and they’re able to come in and see a wax model of the ring, try it on and make sure that’s what they wanted.”
Diamonds Forever’s expertise translates into price savings for clients.
“Generally, people can get a custom ring made here for the same price as what a production ring would be offered at another place,” Seligmann said. “So it’s pretty reasonable for the service.”
Seligmann said the diamond industry was a perfect “fit” for her.
“I just always liked jewelry growing up,” she said. “I would make bracelets and sell them at school. I love it. I feel like I get to live vicariously, celebrating all these people’s life occasions with them. It’s really positive.”
Seligmann attended the GIA training center in Carlsbad. The GIA is a nonprofit institute dedicated to research and education in the field of gemology and the jewelry arts.
“Families in jewelry from all over the world will send their children there, and I happened to be in San Diego, so I was lucky,” Seligmann said, adding her gemological training was “amazing. I just love the industry. Being in it, the more I learn about it.”
Discussing trends in engagement rings, Seligmann noted that doing the wedding band in a contrasting color with the ring has become fashionable.
“Maybe the engagement ring will be white-gold, so we’ll do the wedding band in rose-gold or yellow-gold,” she said. “It’s getting pretty popular to wear three or four rings together — but for all of them to be different.”
Seligmann talked about a special “collaboration” she and her colleagues can do with their clients.
“If a guy wants to come in on his own and choose the center stone, we can set it into a classic tiffany setting,” she said, adding, “A guy can surprise her, then we offer a $300 trade-in value so she can come back with him and pick the setting for it. It’s something that gives the woman the best of both worlds. They get the surprise proposal. Then they get to choose the ring that they’re going to wear forever.”
Diamonds Forever can even take an old wedding ring and re-create it.
“We do a lot of redesign,” Seligmann said. “We’ll use the same center stone, and then we’ll create a whole new ring. Generally, it costs about $800 and takes four to six weeks to do.”
For more information, call (619) 223-2151 or email [email protected].