Meet the Makers

Since 1996, Green Lake Jewelry Works has been crafting custom designed engagement rings, wedding bands, and other jewelry. Our Mission is to go Above and Beyond^TM industry standards in diamond sourcing, quality, ethics and sustainable best practices.

What Makes Us Special

Design directly with the Artists
Extraordinary Craftsmanship
Thousands of photos of our work
All work done in house
Exceptional diamonds and gems
Teamwork and Experience
Happy Customers
Industry leading ethics and values

We create new designs for hundreds of people every month all around the United States and beyond; you can feel confident designing your ring with us.

Exceptional Diamonds

Above and Beyond^TM Diamonds

We're as picky about our diamonds as we are about our rings.

We work with the finest cutters who understand that we, and our clients are ultra choosy about the source, cutting, and quality of our diamonds. These cutters, small and large, from Antwerp to India, seek out Green Lake because of our long reputation of leadership in custom design, ethics, sustainability, and quality.

All our diamonds are conflict-free, sourced from mines, countries and cutters with the highest environmental, societal and workplace standards.

Brilliant Color Gems

Above and Beyond^TM Gems

Most color gemstones are cut overseas for weight, not beauty. Our staff lapidaries cut our own Montana and Nigerian Sapphire and recut any poorly cut gems we acquire. When sourcing both rough and finely cut color gems from all over the world, we insist on knowing our suppliers, and only buy from ethical, sustainable mines and cutters who go Above and Beyond^TM industry standards in all ways.

Raw Diamonds and Gems

Our stock of unique and exceptional raw diamonds and sapphires is exceptional. These one-of-a-kind gems include uncut Raw Diamonds and Raw Sapphires, rose cut gems, flats, and other unique shapes like kite, trapezoid, hex cut and more.

Artists at Work

Work Directly with the Artists

Our designers, CAD modelers, gemstone cutters, wax carvers, metalsmiths, stone setters and hand engravers work directly with our customers and craft our custom designs from start to finish on site.

This lets us be super picky about the details and cost effective at the same time.

Diverse Talents and Continuous Improvement

Green Lake’s artists come to Seattle from across the country and around the world with formal training in gemology, jewelry making, metal sculpture, or industrial design. The opportunity to work on something new and challenging every day is what draws some of the most talented individuals in the industry.

By apprenticing under master craftsmen, each new artist gains a balanced understanding of old world techniques as well as state of the art approaches.

Artists, Not Salespeople

We don’t just sell rings; we make them Here.

In fact, our goal is not to 'sell' at all. Our aim is to inform and inspire you, with as much, or as little, help as you need. Our staff artists have hundreds of years of combined experience at designing and making fine jewelry, and it shows in our craftsmanship and attention to detail.

Look Through Our Galleries and See the Results!

Engagement Rings

View Rings

Wedding Bands

View Bands

Jewelry

View Jewelry

Keeping it cool

In 2012 and again in 2017 Green Lake Jewelry Works was named one of the ‘Coolest Stores in America’ by INSTORE magazine. For over two decades, Green lake has been setting new standards for the custom jewelry industry.

We were one of the first custom shops in America to cast our own platinum, implement CAD/CAM technology, offer online custom design, and have countless awards and accolades from the industry.

Some of the ways we go Above and Beyond^TM include stone setting with high power microscopes, hand done fine-wire filigree, hand fabricated prongs for strength, hand engraving and the extra time and attention we give to detailing every surface of our pieces.

Unique & Original Designs

Unique Engagement Rings

We specialize in unique, one of a kind engagement rings and wedding bands. Our designers create new styles literally every day, and will work with you to create something as unique as you are.

Original Designs

While most jewelers carry mostly relatively generic pieces ordered from wholesalers and outsource their production, Green Lake starts each piece from scratch. Everything we sell is handcrafted right here in our studios with our own hands. When rings are made one at a time at the jeweler’s bench, instead of on the production line, they are imbued with exclusivity and distinguished with personality.

Integrity & Respect

We don’t copy other designer’s work (as a matter of fact, we rarely even remake our own designs).

Modern Tools & Techniques...

Green Lake Jewelry Works maintains a state of the art workshop where each of our stone setters, hand engravers and filigree artists have a personal bench microscope for the finest detailed work.

Our casting equipment melts the metal electrically, under partial vacuum and an inert argon cover gas to protect against oxidation and micro porosity. This means it creates amazingly dense, detailed castings.
Our shop has everything, from computerized milling machines, to several 3D printers and growers to create the right type of model for every cast piece.

Perfected by Hand

We combine these modern tools with the time tested techniques of hand crafting fine jewelry one piece at a time. From hand forged fine wire filigree details to hand engraved patterns we use all the best of modern and traditional jewelry making techniques.

Real Photos vs Computer Renderings

Rather than computer generated images, we show thousands of hi-res photos of our actual jewelry. It's easy to see the detail and craftsmanship of our work, so you can rest assured what you see is exactly what you’ll get.
We are VERY picky!

About CAD Renderings

As a company renowned for its pioneering use of CAD/CAM technologies within jewelry, With a world class CAD team in our studios, Green Lake’s artists regularly win national awards for their skill and innovative design solutions.

Make no mistake, we are CAD aficionados, and renderings play a big part in developing custom designs. However, we believe you’re entitled to see more than what a ring ‘could’ be – we show you how beautiful they really are!

Browse our gallery

Price, Quality & Doing Good Work

Price

It's often assumed that custom jewelry costs more than mass produced. However, by doing all our work in-house and selling direct to our clients, our bespoke custom pieces are often less expensive that branded designer lines.

How can we do this?

Most fine jewelry is designed in one place, cast in another, then sent to a 3rd or even 4th location to be finished. That’s a lot of middlemen! With all our work done onsite in our Seattle studios, we keep our costs down and pass the savings to our clients.

Doing Good

"When Love and skill work together expect a masterpiece." - John Ruskin

There are no shortcuts to quality workmanship, no easy way to make something last a lifetime. Many jewelers can claim to be bigger, cheaper, or more ‘branded,’ but assuredly few can make good on our promise of quality. Here’s how we do it:

Genuine Quality

Our rings are created in solid noble metals; we don’t plate cheap materials with razor thin layers of gold or rhodium and pass it off to our clients as something of superior value. Simply put, the plating will eventually wear off – as will the trust our clients place in us. Instead, we employ smarter alloys to make solid gold and platinum jewelry that will look as good on your 50th wedding anniversary as it did the day you bought it.

We make each piece from scratch

Most 'designers' and 'jewelers' outsource much or all of their production. As the makers, we nuance each design beginning with the sketch and during each step of the process -we wouldn’t dream of having someone else start or finish a piece with our name on it. The fact is, it’s increasingly rare to interact with a jeweler like Green Lake. The old world skills of hand made fine wire filigree & hand engraving have increasingly been replaced by more 'efficient' modern techniques, yet hand done work is obvious and cannot be matched by cast in place substitutes.

We work together as a team

Each of our rings are the product of not one, but many artists working together.
Our process is very transparent. You and your designer work directly with the entire team, from sketch to final polish. Working with artists and craftsmen directly is the best way to nuance all elements of your design and ensure the absolute best quality.

Ask a Friend

(Green Lake custom engagement ring couple Ryan + Jess)

Many learn of Green Lake from a friend, and really who better to trust? Even if you’re not a local client here in the Seattle area, you can easily find recommendations from other satisfied customers from the engagement stories we share on our blog or the reviews folks share on other sites.

Knowing we’ve done a good job is a big source of pride for us in the workshop and we love reading customer reviews.

Years of Experience...

It was in a tiny wedge of space along Seattle’s Green Lake Drive where the store originally opened in 1996. Founded by veteran jeweler and metalsmith Jim Tuttle, Green Lake Jewelry Works started out as a one man shop, but didn't stay that way for long. As more artists joined us, they too moved between the bench and display case to meet with customers. At Green Lake, the artists are in the forefront.

Green Lake isn’t a typical jewelry store. We don’t just sell rings, we make them. There’s no sterile lighting, hovering salespeople, or overseas production; instead, designers, jewelers, and craftsmen work with custom ring clients directly, from start to finish. Today there are over 50 artists at Green Lake, each bringing with them their own experience, insight, and skill. Added up, that’s over 400 years of combined experience in crafting fine jewelry – all in the same open workshop.

Green Lake Jewelry Works approaches the sale of a ring with artistry, experience, and consideration of what’s best for our clients. It’s why year after year, Seattle Bride recognizes our studio for the best wedding and engagement rings, INSTORE Magazine named us as a Cool Store in 2012 & 2017, and our customers recommend us to their family and friends when it comes time to pop the big question.

“Real custom jewelry design is about working with people every day to create great new styles, tailored to each individual. Designing alone is too easy; I find that the interaction between artist and client creates a synergy that leads to new and innovative designs. I am delighted to see our work bettered by this kind of interplay.”

-Jim Tuttle / President & Founder, Green Lake Jewelry Works