Jewelry Designs History

1980
Grand Opening

In 1980, founders Karen and Bob Underhill opened a little jewelry store and ran it from their home. The newly married, 22-year-old couple started with $700, making custom jewelry, doing jewelry repair, and restoring antique jewelry for their own customers as well as other jewelers in the tri-state area.






1984
Expansion

In 1984, Jewelry Designs’ little shop had expanded to a 16-person operation. They were forced to tear out the walls of their home and convert it to a full-blown jewelry store, where owners Bob and Karen slept on a pullout sofa in an office.










1987
New Store

In 1987, The Underhill’s procured the adjoining property and block building. They renovated the former auto dealership and built a new Jewelry Designs. Twenty six hundred people attended the six-hour grand opening in a mass vote of confidence for the Jewelry Designs team.









1992
Expansion

In 1992, Jewelry Designs, again bursting at the seams, expanded its operation and resized its organization to meet customer demands. With a newly expanded showroom, we had yet another grand reopening. Over 3200 people flocked to the six-hour event.










1993
Designer Jewelry Collection

In 1993, the Jewelry Designs team developed their first release of a unique "Designer Collection", featuring rare one-of-a -kind gems and minerals that were completely new to fine jewelry at that time. This has become an annual event for us as each year we announce the release of another collection.










1997
Renovate Showroom

In 1997, Jewelry Designs, having once again outgrown its facilities, underwent yet another renovation of the showroom to accommodate the growth of our operation.








1998
Diamond Importing

In 1998, Jewelry Designs became a direct importer of diamonds. Through long established contacts, we developed relations in Israel. This later led to our opening an office in Ramat Gan, Israel, where half of the world’s diamonds have been marketed.






1999
Jewelry Laser Technology

In 1999, Jewelry Designs incorporated laser technology for precious metals welding. The new technology made it possible to advance in non-invasive work on repairs, and superior capabilities in platinum manufacturing.






2000
Open Diamond Office In Israel

In 2000, we opened an office in Israel’s diamond center in Ramat Gan, just outside of Tel Aviv. This trading center is in one of the world’s busiest diamond centers. Diamond brokers and cutters from around the world travel to this location to trade diamonds. More than half of the world’s diamonds pass through the Israeli diamond center. It is there that we bid on diamonds daily.





2001
High Frequency Platinum Casting

In 2001, our casting technicians mastered the art of platinum casting in-house through the use of high frequency casting. Platinum casting is a very difficult process. Most manufacturers sub-contract platinum casting, as we had in the past. Today, we cast platinum jewelry almost daily with precision results.





2003
A Treasure’s Trove Jewels

In 2003, author, Michael Stadther, commissioned the Jewelry Designs’ team to craft a "million dollar collection" of elite jewels featuring the forest creatures in his book, A Treasure’s Trove. The collection took a team of four craftsman nine months of long days and nights to complete.






2004
Construction

In 2004, Jewelry Designs broke ground for its new store while operating under the same roof during construction. Our customers were wonderful, and patiently endured the inconvenience of the 18-month project. Much of the labor and interesting design of our building was executed by our craftsman and maintenance team.






2004
Jewels National Tour

In 2004, the "A Treasure’s Trove" collection went on national tour. The collection was displayed in numerous prominent museums from coast to coast. The collection was featured on hundreds of television broadcasts around the world, including several appearances on the "Today Show". The jewels were talked about on countless radio broadcasts and pictured in hundreds of national magazines and newspapers.







2005
New Store, 25th Anniversary

In 2005, Jewelry Designs celebrated its 25th anniversary with the grand opening of its revolutionary new store. The store’s concept is a first of its kind, reflecting the uniqueness of Jewelry Designs’ way of doing business.







2006
Diamond Analyzer

In 2006, Jewelry Designs incorporated technology from our office in Israel. Our gem lab integrated OGI Tech proportions analyzer, and procured licensing for the use of GIA Facetware™ cut estimator to establish state-of -the art standards for the fire, brilliance, and scintillation on all of Jewelry Designs’ diamonds.







2007
CAD Jewelry Design and Milling

Several of our designers have undergone schooling and are now dedicated full-time to CAD design and wax milling. The use of this technology enables us to prepare surfaces and patterns for close fitting stones with extreme accuracy. This technology, combined with our diversity and state- of-the art manufacturing capabilities, has enhanced our product development.





Jewelry Designs Directions

Jewelry Designs is the area’s leader in retail and manufacturing of fine diamond jewelry. Jewelry Designs is located in Danbury, Connecticut in western Fairfield county bordering Westchester and Putnam counties on the New York state line.

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