Quality
Individually and painstakingly handcrafted by master artisans.
Every piece designed by KIMIO FUKUTANI is individually and painstakingly handcrafted by Japan’s top artisans.
From rubber molding, wax tree preparation, plaster molding, and casting to stone-setting and polishing, master craftsmen work tirelessly on every unique detail to achieve depth, dimension, and the perfect fit.
DETAIL
Each and every part is individually handcrafted to perfection
KIMITAKE’s jewelry is meticulously crafted to the finest detail, ensuring that it looks beautiful from every angle--which is why we must apply sophisticated casting methods that can turn out these exquisite designs.
By crafting molds for every last component, whether a single chain link or tiny logo, we are able to create emotive, highly-dimensional pieces with a luxurious fit.
Prong setting: where natural sparkle meets master craftsmanship.
The method of stone clasping that secures the diamond to the Ringis called "carving clasping".
Diamonds are held in place from all sides by metal parts called claws. The claws are carved into the metal one by one according to the height and shape of the stone to be set.
Since all of this is done by hand, it is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, but the stones are beautifully finished because they are all of the same height.
For example, in the case of the LINKS RING Ring, which has many melee diamonds set, a single craftsman can finish only two pieces in a day. The uncompromising attention to detail of our skilled craftsmen results in a beautiful and comfortable jewelry.
Jewel Town
Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture
KIMITAKE’ s jewelry is produced carefully one-by-one by skilled artisans in Kofu, Yamanashi, which holds a rich traditional history in jewelry craftsmanship.
Yamanashi Prefecture’ s jewelry industry began because it was known as a crystal-producing area.
They entered their golden age around the 1700’ s which developed remarkably due to glasswork and crystal polishing techniques brought from overseas.
In addition to Kofu’ s makers of metallic ornaments who made a living from polishing, sword makers who lost their jobs due to the Sword Abolishment Edict in 1876 moved to live in Kofu, and precious metal craftsmanship also prospered.
As these two industries were related, precious metal crafts developed into Kofu’ s crystal gemstone works, which were designated as the nation’ s traditional crafts,
and crystal polishing developed into various jewel polishing techniques,
creating highly marketable products. However, unpolished crystals became exhausted, and they had to gradually rely on imports from overseas.
Numerous jewels were imported, not only crystals, and many of these jewels were polished
and treated to produce ornaments, which developed the local industry.
Kofu came to be called the “Jewel Town” for its key industry of rare jewels,
which had everything in place globally, from planning, purchasing, polishing, and treating to distribution.
Timeless jewelry that becomes a part of your story
Our clients want their jewelry to be an integral part of their lives,so we are uncompromising when it comes to the rarity of materials and production techniques used in our KIMITAKE creations.Only pieces that exceed our strict standards bear the KIMITAKE name.
A miracle of nature, created over hundreds of millions of years.
Diamonds first formed around the time of earth's creation, over 4.5 billion years ago - well before humans ever walked this earth.
Carbon atoms joined together deep under the Earth's surface at an atmospheric pressure of over 450,000 and a temperature exceeding 2000° F, and miraculously came to the surface over the planet's long history in volcanic eruptions.
These mysterious crystals, formed under a series of miraculous circumstances, all differ in color and shape.
Each and every one is truly one of a kind.
The same standard of quality even for each and every melee diamond.
At KIMITAKE, we maintain an independent set of strict quality standards based on the 4Cs (carat, cut, color, and clarity) established by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the world's leading authority on gemstones.
For color, we use colorless or near-colorless diamonds graded F or higher, with a clarity grade no lower than VS2. We also exclusively use premium Heart & Cupid cuts. These extremely high standards even apply to our tiny melee diamonds weighing less than 0.2 carats.
In short, every single diamond from KIMITAKE is of the utmost quality. We are one of only eleven companies and twelve brands (representing just 2.7% of the 401 brands worldwide) that maintains quality standards at or above this level for all melee diamond pieces.
Source: Market survey on melee diamond quality standards (August 2021, ESP Research Institute, Inc.)
READ MORE ABOUT 4C.
