Oval Solitaire
A graceful oval center stone with clean metal, generous light, and a shape that feels romantic without becoming ornate.
Customize this directionBuild Your Dream Custom Engagement Ring.
Most jewelers sell whatever is already in the case. I’m Andrew Gonzalez. I buy and sell diamonds wholesale, and I build San Diego couples the ring they keep picturing: the right stone, the right setting, and CAD only when it earns its place.
30+ years of experience building custom engagement rings, wedding bands, and custom jewelry. GIA Applied Jewelry Professional.
Example of a text conversation with Andrew. Andrew says: It's ready.. Andrew sends a photo: Finished custom three-stone engagement ring in a red velvet ring box. Sarah says: ANDREW.. Sarah says: it's even better than her Pinterest board 😭. Andrew says: Now the easy part. Go ask her 🥂.
How most rings start: a text.
Why couples trust Andrew
- GIA Applied Jewelry ProfessionalTrained to judge a stone by eye, not just by report.
- 30+ years building custom jewelryBuying and selling diamonds and gold wholesale every week.
- Ran his own jewelry storesSo he knows exactly what retail overhead costs you.
- Starts with a consultation callYou see stones in person once there are stones worth seeing.
Not inventory. Inspiration.
Choose a direction, then make it yours.
Everything starts with the stone. These are here so you can point at what she’d love, whether that’s something simple or something with more going on, and the ring gets built from there: your diamond, her hand, your number.
Classic Solitaire
A focused, minimal ring that lets the diamond carry the emotion, proportions, and light.
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Round Bezel
A round brilliant diamond set in a slim bezel for a clean, modern ring with soft protection and quiet presence.
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Elongated Cushion
A soft rectangular center with a plush outline, generous sparkle, and a less expected profile than a round brilliant.
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Emerald Bezel
A sleek step-cut diamond secured in a clean bezel for an architectural, understated profile.
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Three-Stone
A center diamond framed by two supporting stones for presence, meaning, and beautiful side views.
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Toi et Moi
Two complementary center stones set together for a personal, sculptural ring with strong custom-design potential.
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Marquise
A dramatic elongated shape with pointed ends, strong finger coverage, and a rare editorial feel.
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Pear Pavé
A pear-shaped center with a fine pavé band for movement, shimmer, and a soft directional silhouette.
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Radiant Hidden Halo
A rectangular brilliant center with hidden detail under the crown for sparkle that feels discovered up close.
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East-West
A center stone set horizontally for a lower, modern line across the finger.
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Vintage Step-Cut
Asscher, emerald, baguette, and antique-inspired geometry with warm detail and measured restraint.
Customize this directionWhat custom actually means
Diamond, setting, and CAD only when it earns its place.
A custom ring does not have to be complicated. The work is deciding what needs to be selected, what can be modified, and what must be built.
Select the exact diamond
Compare natural and lab-grown diamonds by shape, face-up appearance, proportions, origin, and budget fit. By eye, not just by report.
Match or modify the setting
Start from a strong foundation when it exists, then adjust prongs, profile, metal, side detail, or band fit.
Create through CAD
Use CAD when the right setting is not available or the ring needs a made-to-fit side view, basket, or stone arrangement.
About Andrew
A family-owned business. Father and son. Thirty-plus years in it.
Jewelry is my family’s business, and it still is: my son Ezra runs our marketing and everything online while I handle the diamonds. I’ve owned and managed stores, my own and my family’s, and these days most of my work is wholesale: buying and selling diamonds and gold, week in and week out. I never needed a storefront, because the work comes to me instead, from jewelers who need a stone found, and from couples someone sent my way.
You reach me the same way they do: directly. Most people start with a call: what she likes, the shape, how she actually wears jewelry, and the range you have in mind. From there I write up a proposal that spells out exactly what we’re building. Only then do I go looking: the stone first, then the setting, and a straight answer about whether custom is even the right path for what you want.
Nothing sits in a case waiting for you. Every stone I show you was found for your ring, in your shape and your range, after we agreed on the plan. On any given day you’ll see me moving between jewelers, picking up gold, checking stones, and calling in favors to keep a ring on schedule. When I say I live inside this business, I mean it literally.
What I love most is building custom pieces, engagement rings above all. I proposed to my wife with a ring I made. I built my daughter’s engagement ring. I’m building my son’s right now. You won’t find a photo of any of them here, and that’s deliberate: what I make for you stays yours, not a template for somebody’s mass production.
30+ years of experience building custom engagement rings, wedding bands, and custom jewelry. GIA Applied Jewelry Professional.
What the paper won’t tell you
Same report. Different diamond.
Two stones can carry nearly identical grading reports and look nothing alike in person. Mass sellers profit from that gap. I built a career inside it. It’s why I earned the GIA Applied Jewelry Professional credential instead of trusting paperwork: the training is in reading exactly what a report leaves out.
Where the inclusion sits
A flaw tucked near the stone's edge disappears under a prong forever. The identical flaw sitting dead center catches your eye every day. Both carry the same clarity grade.
Milkiness isn’t graded
A hazy stone can carry beautiful grades and still look like a window that needs cleaning. Transparency appears nowhere on the report. You find out by looking.
Fancy shapes have no cut grade
Cut is graded on round stones only. The ovals, cushions, and pears everyone is saving photos of? How bright they are, how big they look, how much weight is buried underneath: graded by nobody.
Where the good stones go
The best diamonds never reach the mass sites.
Cutters and brokers show their best stones to private jewelers first, because we’re shopping for one diamond for one specific ring. A mass retailer is filling a shelf: the margin is in volume, not selection.
Dozens considered for one ring
Reports first, then the imagery and video behind them, before a stone earns a second look.
The short list, shipped in
The finalists come to my desk so I can check each one for haze, where the flaw sits, and how it actually handles light.
Bought off a report alone
What an auction, a bulk broker, or a social-media shop is actually selling. The report is the beginning of the conversation, not the end of it.
The open-book offer
Found a ring online? Bring it to me.
The big diamond websites say no storefronts keep their prices low. Then they spend millions marketing the brand and pay thousands of employees to sell you a stone off a report, sight unseen. The chain store needs you to leave with something from the case, financed if necessary. Neither of them works for you.
I do. I hold no inventory, and I buy to build: your stone, sourced from reputable dealers after you’ve told me the look and the number. Bring me the listing, a finished ring or a loose stone, or any written quote, and I’ll put my number next to it on the same specifications. If their deal is genuinely better, I’ll tell you to take it.
How most of these start: a link.
Natural or lab-grown
Same sparkle. Different reasons to choose.
A natural diamond and a lab-grown diamond can both make a beautiful engagement ring. The difference is not whether one can look good. The difference is origin, rarity, budget, size, and what the stone means to the person wearing it.
Natural diamonds
Choose natural when geological origin is part of the emotion.
A natural diamond was formed by the earth over an extraordinary amount of time. For some couples, that origin is part of the meaning. They want the traditional diamond category: geological, finite, and naturally formed.
- The stone's natural origin can feel meaningful because it was formed by the earth over time.
- Rarity and tradition matter to some couples because they are part of the engagement story they grew up imagining.
- A natural diamond can feel like a keepsake with its own history, especially when origin is part of the proposal meaning.
- The tradeoff is usually size or budget, so I put the actual stones in front of you, cut and presence and price, before you decide.
Lab-grown diamonds
Choose lab-grown when the ring you picture matters most.
A lab-grown diamond has a different origin, but it can give you a larger or more specific center stone within the same budget. For many couples, that means the ring can look closer to the inspiration photo without forcing the budget higher.
- Lab-grown can feel freeing because more of the budget goes toward the shape, size, and setting she keeps saving.
- A larger oval, radiant, or cushion becomes possible without making the ring feel less personal or less meaningful.
- The origin is different, so I say so plainly and compare it honestly beside natural options.
- For many couples, the meaning comes from choosing the design intentionally, not from spending more for geological origin.
The real question
You do not have to decide before talking to me.
The easiest way to choose is to compare both paths in the same ring direction. Oval vs oval. Radiant vs radiant. Solitaire vs solitaire. Same setting idea, same budget range, two different diamond origins.
I hold no inventory, so I have no stone to push you toward. I’ll walk you through what changes, what stays the same, and what each choice means before the ring is made.
Why Andrew
Thirty years of buying diamonds, and direct guidance.
Luxury Custom Jeweler is built for couples who want direct guidance, private attention, and a custom engagement ring path that keeps the budget focused on the diamond, setting, craftsmanship, and the person wearing it.
Private appointment focus
One conversation at a time, on your schedule, with nothing in a case that needs selling.
Natural and lab-grown guidance
Both paths on the same desk, compared honestly, with no inventory steering the answer.
Setting modification and CAD
Use what exists when it works. Build only what has to be built. Your budget stays in the stone.
San Diego service area
Serving couples across San Diego, La Jolla, Del Mar, Coronado, Rancho Santa Fe, North County, East County, and South Bay by private appointment.
View location pagesIn their words
What couples say after the ring is on her hand
“We walked in thinking $3,500 wouldn’t get us anything special. Andrew built Jasmine an oval that gets compliments almost weekly, and he never once tried to push us past our number.”
Tyler & Jasmine
Custom oval engagement ring
“I had about three weeks before I shipped out and every store quoted me six to eight. Andrew asked for my date, said that’s doable, and the ring was in my hand in 17 days. She said yes with time to spare.”
Sean
Engagement ring on a deployment timeline
“He put two diamonds with nearly identical reports under the loupe and showed me exactly why the cheaper one wasn’t the better deal. I have never had anyone in a sales situation talk me out of spending money before.”
Priya
Radiant engagement ring
“We came in with a screenshot from one of the big diamond websites, basically daring him. He sourced the same specs with a noticeably better stone, side by side you could see it, and his number was lower. Honestly didn’t expect that.”
Miguel & Sofia
Compared against an online listing
Straight talk about money
The budget goes into the stone, not the rent.
The number you are comfortable with is the number I design to. Tell me what it is and you will get a straight answer about what it buys, where I would put it, and where I would not bother. Nothing you pay here is covering a showroom, which is the whole reason the same money goes further.
The money side stays simple: a short written contract, a deposit so I can source your stone, and the balance settled before your ring is finished. Custom work is made to order, so nothing goes into final production on credit. Most rings are done in 14–30 days.
See what your budget buysDesigned to your number
You set it, I design to it. A stone chosen in person, a setting that fits her hand, and nothing decided for you in advance.
One-of-one commissions
For the ring that shouldn't exist twice: rarer stones, fully built settings, pieces designed around a specific person.
Contract, deposit, then the balance
Everything in writing before anything starts, and the balance settled before the ring is completed. No store cards, no financing desk theater.
Explore the custom ring paths
Custom Engagement Rings San Diego
Start with a diamond, a setting direction, a photo, or a CAD concept.
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Custom Wedding Bands San Diego
Create a band that works with the engagement ring and feels right every day.
Explore this pathLab-Grown Diamond Engagement Rings
Explore lab-grown diamonds with the same setting and design care as natural diamonds.
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Natural Diamond Engagement Rings
Compare natural diamond options with guidance on shape, size, quality, and setting fit.
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Engagement Ring Settings
Choose, modify, or create a setting around the stone and the person wearing it.
Explore this pathDesign Your Own Ring / CAD Design
When the right setting is not already available, build the ring path through CAD.
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Heirloom Diamond Reset San Diego
Reset a family stone into a ring that gets worn, with the original mounting returned to you.
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Custom Anniversary Rings San Diego
Anniversary bands, eternity rings, and upgrades designed around the set already on her hand.
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Custom Jewelry San Diego
Earrings, pendants, and one-of-one pieces, for gifts, milestones, or no occasion at all.
Explore this pathMen's Wedding Bands San Diego
Metals, widths, and finishes compared in hand, built for decades of daily wear.
Explore this pathLoose Diamonds San Diego
Pick the certified stone first, natural or lab-grown, and inspect it before anything is made.
Explore this pathQuestions couples ask before the first appointment
What does custom mean here?
Built for you, which is not the same as built from scratch. Sometimes I source the exact diamond and set it in a setting that already exists. Sometimes I modify a strong foundation. CAD comes in only when the right ring needs to be created around your stone. Custom doesn’t mean more expensive; it means nothing is decided for you in advance.
Can we start with a photo?
Yes, and it’s the best first step. A screenshot shows me proportion, mood, shape, and details, and I can usually tell you the smartest path from one image. Text it to (619) 279-7738.
Do you work with natural and lab-grown diamonds?
Both, and I don’t care which you choose. I hold no inventory, so I have no stone to push. I’ll put a natural and a lab-grown next to each other in the same shape and budget and let your own eyes decide.
How fast can a custom ring be made?
Most rings finish in 14–30 days. CAD work or unusual stones can run longer, and you’ll know the realistic window before any deposit changes hands.
What does it cost?
It depends on the stone more than anything else, and I design to your number rather than quoting one at you. Tell me the range you're comfortable with and you'll get a plain answer about what it buys in the shape you want, in writing, before anything is ordered. The mechanics never change: a short written contract, a deposit so I can source your stone, and the balance settled before it is finished.
Can you set a diamond I already bought?
Yes. Bring the stone and its report and I'll tell you honestly what you have before we design around it. But if you haven't bought it yet, send me the listing first: a stone bought off a report alone, from an auction, a bulk broker, or a social-media shop, skips every check a private jeweler makes by eye.
Where do we actually meet?
We start on the phone. A consultation call covers what you're after, the budget, and the plan, and most of the work runs from there by phone and text. When I've sourced stones for your ring, we meet in person at the Jewelers Exchange so you can see them next to their reports before anything is made.
Text Andrew
Text Andrew the ring style you keep coming back to.
A photo, sketch, or even a rough idea is enough to start. I can usually tell you whether the smartest path is a sourced diamond, a modified setting, a CAD build, or a short call to compare options.
- GIA Applied Jewelry Professional
- Trained to judge a diamond by eye, not just by its report.
- 30+ years in jewelry
- Buying and selling diamonds and gold wholesale every week.
- Most rings in 14 to 30 days
- CAD builds can run longer. You know which yours is up front.
- The price in writing first
- A written plan and a real number before any deposit.