It’s been almost a year since the Karat Jewelry Group stored opened in Hinsdale, and Anton Zubkovskis says it has been a great move for the family business. The original Karat Jewelry Group store opened in 2004 in downtown Chicago, though the family tradition of jewelry-making goes back all the way to Latvia, where Anton’s father established the family jewelry business in 1989.

The desire to share the family’s knowledge and expertise beyond the confines of Jewelers Row led Anton and his brother Mark to Hinsdale. “We wanted the right area where people could appreciate the advantages of fine, custom-to-order jewelry,” Anton says. “Hinsdale has been wonderful to us, and we are very happy to be here serving this community and the surrounding area.”

Karat Jewelry Group offers complete in-house service for everything from the design consultation, through the various stages of production, until final delivery. “We haven’t built our business by showcasing the same assembly-line production quality jewelry you can find almost everywhere,” Anton says. “Rather, our goal is to provide you with a unique treasure that is truly special, based on your ideas and imagination, together with our design expertise and European-trained technical skills.”

“Our showroom is our production house, where we sit with you one-on-one to develop a precise custom CAD design, which reflects your individual style and personality,” he adds. Technology has certainly changed the business since his father started it all those years ago: Lasers, 3D printers and other specialized equipment can be useful and of great benefit, but they have also contributed to a decrease in overall quality. “We see this now with big-box mass merchandise jewelry outlets,” Anton says.

“In contrast, every piece we fabricate is a prototype, and our diamond setting and polishing is all done by hand. No machine can approach this level of quality,” he adds.

Karat Jewelry Group is known for its custom design work. Anton says once people understand the custom option and see just how easy it is to include their own ideas to achieve a personalized keepsake, it becomes a more desirable choice. However, for anyone who needs a spur-of-the-moment birthday, anniversary or a gift for other occasions, the showroom has a broad selection of finished necklaces, earrings, cocktail rings, right-hand rings, and more.

When asked about the overall design aesthetic for Karat Jewelry Group, Anton says it is simple: precision and perfection. “It is important to our clients and to us that every step of the production process meets the highest standard in terms of quality of design, diamonds and gemstones, as well as polish and finish so that the final product is an accurate, faithful rendition of exactly what the customer wants,” he says.

And that’s why you rarely see anything less than a five star review for Karat Jewelry Group. This is a family business known for its quality work and personalized attention.

“We don’t approach our business in terms of high volume sales, or making a sale at any cost,” Anton says. “We want all of our customers to be 100 percent satisfied all of the time, which is why we follow up every sale with free cleaning and inspection, as well as offering one of the strongest guarantees in the business.”

“Our customers trust us with their family heirlooms and valuable keepsakes. That trust is sacred to us, and we work hard to keep earning that trust every single day.”

The Karat Jewelry Group showroom is located at 9 E. First Street in Hinsdale. To learn more about the business, visit karatjewelrygroup.us or call 312-854-3056.