My Dad started Cottage Hill Diamonds with just him and my Mom in the year 2000. The planet had survived Y2K and it seemed like a good time to move from wholesaling diamonds to offering them directly to the people who love and wear them. My Dad learned how to pick diamonds from dealing with stores all over the Midwest. He knew how to hand select beautiful diamonds out of parcels of 100+ carats. Although he had no formal training he seemed to have an eye for well cut diamonds from the very beginning. This combined with a depth of knowledge on wholesale diamond pricing still gives us an advantage over our competitors to this day. Every diamond in our store gets looked at by him and now by my brothers and I as we learn how to hand select the best diamonds at the best prices.
As time progressed and the business grew he hired a few employees. He has always had the mentality that Cottage Hill Diamonds is a family and to treat our customers and employees as such. My parents worked very hard to grow the business while raising us 4 boys. We were all involved in sports (hockey, soccer, cross-country, and water polo) and they did a great job managing the chaotic schedules. My Parents have always been very supportive of allowing us to decide for ourselves what we want to do both personally and professionally. I believe that allowing us to go to the school of our choosing and working in other industries has strengthened us as individuals and allowed us to grow into who we are today. Each one of us brothers came into the business at a different time and by our own choice. My Dad has created a company that is family oriented and allows us the freedom and benefits of working for a local business that has a big impact in the community we serve. Our store hours reflect our belief that people deserve a consistent schedule with reasonable work hours and two days off to spend with their other family. We also believe that people should enjoy the work they do and the people they work with. When we hire new employees a sense of humor is the first thing we look for. We also believe in flexibility for our employees schedules. We support time off and require that our employees use vacation time.
My parents grew up in Elmhurst and believe in giving back to the wonderful community that has supported us. We do a lot of local jewelry repair, birthday, and anniversary gifts and love being a part of those special moments in people’s lives. We are grateful for our local customers and are always looking for ways we can give back. From supporting fundraisers with gift cards and jewelry donations to raising money for the Elmhurst Food Pantry on event nights we are thankful for the opportunity to help where we can. Our primary charity we support is Serenity House. We firmly believe in the good work they do helping those with substance abuse problems. We are also active in the local Rotary Club. As we continue to develop and grow CHD we look for new ways we can improve the lives of our employees and customers. Please contact us if you know of a local charity that you think would be a good fit for us to partner with.
As my Parents get older they are slowly handing the reigns over to my three brothers and I. We all fill different roles in the company and work hard to learn the jewelry trade. Andrew has worked here the longest and does an incredible job with our Custom Jewelry Designs. Collin is one class away from his G.G. (Graduate Gemologist) and does a majority of our appraisal work. Kyle is the one changing your watch batteries and does other basic jewelry repair. I manage the bookkeeping and inventory along with maintaining our website and social media pages. We are very grateful for the four other employees who do great work for us. Karen answers the phones and does an incredible job of keeping track of orders and repair jobs. Marisa helps people select the perfect piece of jewelry for any occasion. She has an eye for design and goes above and beyond for every one of our customers. Samantha found us after working for another Jewelry store downtown. You may have seen some of the beautiful photos she takes for our social media pages or she may have helped you find the perfect gift for your loved one. Michelle is our store manager and has been a huge help in keeping things organized. She also makes a great referee when necessary haha! Our employees, designers, and craft artisans allow us to be a full service jewelry store capable of true custom jewelry creation. We also have a large selection of fun fashion jewelry, designer engagement rings, and loose diamond inventory. We are part of the Independent Jewelers Organization (IJO) which is a jewelry buying group of 750 other independently owned stores. This strength in numbers makes us one of the largest jewelry buying groups in the world. It gives us access to a large selection of jewelry designers and diamond cutters who offer us discounts for being part of the group. We pass these saving on to you. When comparing apples to apples we can beat any big box chain store on price, quality, and selection.
Trust is essential in our business. Being a local family owned business means we are invested in our community because our community is invested in us. We maintain our integrity by being open and honest with our customers and employees. Our reputation is built on listening to our clients and giving them our honest opinion. Our bench jewelers have a minimum of 30+ years of experience. We prefer to fix things properly the first time. If that is not in the budget then we usually have options but we will not compromise the integrity of our work. A majority of our business comes from personal referrals. We cannot thank our customers enough for the kind words they post online or pass along to their friends and family. If there is something you think we could improve upon please send us an email through the contact page. We appreciate your feedback and look forward to helping you on your next jewelry adventure!