Custom Gems

So Much More Than Gems!

By Janette Calabro

As you might guess from the name, Custom Gems is a great place to find gemstones. However, Custom Gems is so much more than a jewelry store! It is also a full-service custom shop with the motto: “If you can dream it, we can make it happen.” With a state-of-the-art laser welder (one of just four in Omaha), the experienced staff can perform the most complicated and delicate repairs. Their hands-on workmanship results in one-of-a-kind pieces with stunning quality. The store also sells supplies for making jewelry for those who prefer to cut and polish their own rocks and gems. 

When you walk into Custom Gems, you can’t miss the amethysts—there are two matching eight-foot-tall amethyst cathedrals (geodes) towering toward the ceiling, brimming with magic at 700 pounds each. The retail store beautifully displays case after case of everything gemstone, including jewelry, collector art, crystals, minerals, and fossils. In fact, they carry the largest inventory of minerals and fossils in the Omaha area! 

The store is chock full of fantastic finds for gifts and admirers of all ages, with price tags to fit any budget. One long wall of the shop houses tiers of sparkling shelves that hold glass jars of tumbled stones, crystals, and minerals. They have everything from fantasy rose quartz to peach moonstone to green jasper—even bluestone sourced from Stonehenge’s 3,000-year-old quarries. 

Custom Gems was opened by Ed and Erma Pharaoh in 1975. Ed and Erma played a major role in mentoring current owner Tim Kautsch before Tim purchased the store in 2009 from the second owner, Chuck Swanson. “They taught me a lot,” Tim says. “I wouldn’t be here without them.” He appreciates how much Chuck valued a smooth ownership transition. “He made the jump into more things we started carrying in the store.” Tim took classes from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), obtaining a gemology degree, and he brings years of expertise to his work in jewelry creation and repair.

Tim works side by side with his team, including his brother, Kevin, who often sports a curved boar tooth necklace—custom made, of course. Always up for a great challenge, Tim accepts repair projects that other jewelers might turn down. They create new custom pieces, repair broken items, restring pearls, and do custom casting and fabricating (that is, shaping metals into desired forms). One customer asked for a unique piece made from Chanel buttons, and Tim was happy to take the job. “You name it, we can do it,” he asserts. 

Tim enjoys helping customers turn dusty heirlooms into new pieces that they’re excited to wear. Sometimes, a customer brings in heirloom pieces that are outdated, are in disrepair, or are just not their style. “We can use metal and stones to make something new,” says Tim. “They can be Grandma’s stones and Grandma’s gold, but we can turn them into something that will be worn now.” He always handles sentimental pieces with great care. “No one brings in something they don’t care about!” 

Happy customers and polished pieces are Tim’s pride. He works on custom pieces for weddings, graduations, anniversaries, and daily wear. Whether he’s creating new work, doing repair work, or repurposing heirlooms, he loves delighting his customers. “To see the customer smile at the finished piece is so rewarding,” says Tim. “They say, ‘Oh, it’s brand new!’ That’s what I like to hear.”

One of Tim’s regulars is a boy around 10 years old who loves Custom Gems so much, he rates it up there with his favorite Lego store. Another customer, Catherine, says Custom Gems “is a great place to find the minerals, rocks, gems, and fossils you’re looking for. They have a wide selection that’s beautifully displayed and reasonably priced. The staff are also very friendly! An outstanding find for geology enthusiasts!”

Everything in the store is one of a kind, Tim says. “The minerals and fossils we have are individual. Some people collect, and some are into the metaphysical side, the new age.” Tim keeps an open mind about the potential metaphysical properties of the items in his store. “Mind over matter helps get your mind into a certain state,” he says. In that state, he continues, you can probably get over certain hurdles. “It’s a way to inspire.” 

If you’re looking for inspiration of any kind, stop in at Custom Gems. They will happily create your custom items, guide you to the tools you need to make your own, or help you build your collection of beautiful and fascinating stones. Visit in person at 8487 Frederick Street, in Omaha, or online at customgemsomaha.com. Call 402-397-9606 for more information.

​