Call me Claude... not Mr. Thibaudeau, he says! That's how down to earth this world-renowned jewelry designer really is. Claude is truly dedicated to creating the finest quality of Platinum or 18K jewelry or, as he says "la creme de la creme". His efforts are rewarded by the many letters and e-mails he receives every week from consumers thanking him for making a magic moment in their lives, such as a wedding or anniversary, even more memorable... or for simply remounting a special sentimental stone on a new Claude Thibaudeau design.

Claude's enthusiasm and success can be attributed to his positive attitude, which is reflected in his great team. His philosophy of "every day surpassing what has been achieved yesterday" is inspired by his love for jewelry and for his two most precious creations... Hann and Francis Thibaudeau. Visit the Claude Thibaudeau website.

In 1858, Christian Bauer was born. He was a weaver's and butcher's son and was raised in Welzheim. Christian Bauer married in Karoline, nee Foll in 1879. Two sons and two daughters descended, Karl (born 1886), Friedrich (born 1888), Lina (born 1879) and Julie (born 1892). By 1880, the formation of Christian Bauer company had begun. Karl Bauer and Friedrich Bauer began to work in their father's business. Karl worked as a goldsmith while Friedrich handled matters of staff and business. Friedrich Bauer married and had two daughters, Elise and Elfriede. The Christian Bauer company then celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1930. Friedrich Bauer was assisted in matters of staff and business by his daughter Elise. Elfriede, the younger daughter, joined the business too. Elise and Elfriede both marry in 1948. The sons-in-law, Julius Keller and Helmut Hutt, were members of the trade and had been with the company for years. They contributed new ideas and pioneering spirit. The 75th anniversary was celebrated in the presence of the Baden-Wurttemberg prime minister in 1955. This coincided with Friedrich Bauer's 45th anniversary of his work with the company. The grandchildren of Friedrich Bauer, Eva, Rosemarie and Roland became members of the company in 1975. They celebrated the 100th anniversary of Christian Bauer in 1980 with 500 people presently working for the company. In 1988, the company spread its distribution to the United States.

Invisible setting, a style made popular by the venerable jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels, was a look once reserved only for royalty and the very wealthy until Chris Slowinski of Christopher Designs was awarded three United States patents.  Two of these are technological patents. The first one is for invisibly set diamond jewelry and the second is for machine set closed end channel anniversary or wedding bands. The third is a design patent for his new cut of diamond, The Crisscut™. Ironically the name is not related to his name but describes the crisscrossed facets that give this diamond its Superior Brilliance and Fire.

Invisible setting is a style where square or princess cut diamonds are closely together without visible metal between the individual stones, creating the illusion of a seamless surface of diamonds.  

As a young jeweler's apprentice in Europe, Christopher Slowinski was always enamored with the almost magical beauty of invisible set diamonds, and set out to improve this style of setting.  After years of search and drawing on his background as a master jeweler and skilled lapidary, Christopher Slowinski developed a new technique for creating invisible set jewelry.  This technique is so innovative, an U.S. patent protects it.  In fact, in the entire world there are only two jewelers to ever be issued a patent for invisible set jewelry, Van Cleef & Arpels and Christopher Designs. 

As with all truly fine jewelry, LaserCut invisible set jewelry begins as an artist sketch.  The concept is further refined to create a final drawing from which a model is made.  Once the model is created and the diamonds selected, the jewelry is manufactured.  First the gold work is created to extremely accurate and close tolerance, using both traditional hand craftsmanship and state-of-the-art computer machining technology.  Next, each diamond, which was pre sized to its exact location, is set by a diamond setter between two or more bars of gold in the mounting.  As the diamond is pressed down, the notches bite into the gold.  The angle of the notch prevents the stone from moving up or coming loose, "Much the way a fishhook works", explains Christopher. 

The diamonds are individually set with great care taken to align each to the next to create that seamless look that makes LaserCut so beautiful.  After all of the diamonds have been set, the piece is given a final polish.  The finished piece is then inspected by Christopher himself to be certain it meets his unyielding standards for excellence. 

If you are considering a piece of jewelry made by Christopher Designs, know that they are dedicated to manufacturing jewelry of the highest quality using the finest materials. Visit the Christopher Designs website.