Pistachios

I’ve been traveling to Chicago once a year for eight years with my mom, and each time it’s pretty much a long weekend tour of high-​end department stores, punctuated by good lunches and dinners. But each time, we’ve also visited Pistachios. Most of those years I pretty much couldn’t afford anything in the store. But that’s not a dig on the prices (which seem to mostly congregate in the $ 75-​$ 200 range maybe?), because I’m 100% sure you get what you pay for there: creativity, craftsmanship, and quality. It just jumps out at you like a komodo dragon after hours spent wandering the lovely but bland jewelry cases of Nordstrom, Saks, and Neiman Marcus, where things cost the same as they do at Pistachios but have a fraction of the personality and depth.
I’ve watched my mom, who is not a spendy person, purchase stuff and treasure it for years. This year, I finally was able to get my own pair of earrings which I will proudly wear to officiate a wedding in a few months. Selecting the earrings was a great experience, assisted by helpful and friendly staff. I think this place is really special and recommend it completely for anybody who wants to admire or acquire something extraordinary.

Closes 30 minutes before its supposed to. 3 people inside, they just looked at me. Guess they don’t really want to sell their product.

Wonderful selection and I can always find something unique and affordable for my wife.

They carry handmade one-​of-​a-​kind pieces that are very affordable for what they are.
And the folks who run the place are gracious hosts…
No over-​salesmanship here, just friendly and accommodating.

Pistachios offers unique jewelry and gifts that the creative person who is looking for something different will find irresistible. And if your guy is cool, take a look at the watches. The staff is warm, friendly, and will help you decide what looks best on you.
Shop often because there is always something new to tantalize you.

A real germ! Selection to satisfy a varied taste, from ultra contemporary to more settle. I am glued to this place and keep coming back for more! Great customer service and individual approach. They carry handcrafted jewelry from all over the world, a lot of one-​of-​a kind but yet reasonably priced.

I really love the uniqueness of this jewelry. The staff was friendly and really went out of their way to help find the piece that was «perfect» for me. I spent a bit more than I typically do but do feel my necklace is one of a kind and a work of art.

Loved this store. They had a fabulous array of handcrafted jewelry. It was hard to choose. I wanted everything. The staff were helpful.

Gift-​buyers beware, this store’s exchange and return policy is very rigid and the merchandise is quite style-​specific. Even though the store features various jewelry artists, everything for sale has a Very Similar Feel. The pieces are «modern», but mundane. It’s not a look most gals would go for. If you aren’t 1000% positive your loved-​one will not want to exchange something, shop at a store with a better, more flexible attitude toward customer satisfaction and a more varied selection of jewelry looks.

This store has gorgeous gifts but be careful with the sales staff. My fiancé purchased a ring for me from this store and I had to return it because of the size. Due to the inventory we had to choose a different ring and it had to be special ordered. The sales staff said it would be 4 – 6 weeks and made us pay in full and we left the store.
8 weeks passed and no ring, no call. I called the store and they said the artist was a little flakey and they were having trouble getting the ring. 10 weeks passed and I phoned them to get an update. They replied that they had called me and left messages and that the ring was at the store. I had no record or message to that effect and the sales lady said, «Well we have record we called.» She made no apology for being over the quoted time period. Then said that one of the girls said she called and I said I forgot I ordered the ring. Clearly a lie. I chose then to cancel the order because I knew the sight of the ring would always remind me of the horrible service these people are providing. When I spoke to the manager she said we don’t normally do refunds but we can for this and I’ll charge you a 15% restocking fee. Okay I pay you for the 10 weeks you made me wait and I get nothing but bad service. Who cares, your service is awful and I’d just like to be done dealing with the whole thing and go to a store that actually helps their customers instead of insulting them. I got to the store to do the refund. I was speaking with the manager and I apologized for the my attitude and explained that I just wanted the ring because it was a special gift. She looked me in the eyes and said, «My guess is that you just needed the money.» I was floored that after the whole thing she would take a jab like that and give such a distasteful remark. That was the final straw and I will never ever go in this store. The sales staff is irresponsible and disrespectful. I have never been treated so bad in my life.

I love this place, very interesting crafty/​unique jewelry.
Service could be better and price could be cheaper.

As a reluctant shopper, I have a low tolerance for poor quality of merchandise and indifferent customer service. So it was a complete surprise to find this oasis of a store while wife was in bland Nordstroms next door, and see a wonderfully unique selection of jewelry, thoughtfully laid out, with a staff not pushy but actually helpful. The selection of jewelry on show I have not seen anywhere else outside Europe. I love modern and this hit the spot!

My wife pointed me to this wonderful merchant a few years ago. Since that time, have purchased many items for special gifts.
The store has a unique selection of unusual jewelery that will appeal to a wide range of people, but mostly people who are into Artisan pieces that are unique. They also have a selection of various scarves, hand blown glass art; the owner has a knack for traveling the world and selecting beautiful and unique gift items that you wont find everywhere. She works with a select group of designers, mostly from Europe.
Purchased my Wife’s engagement ring here, and the staff really took the time to show us the various options in mountings and then found a perfect diamond to complete. They have great service and will work hard to find that special treasure.
Have also seen some Artisan watches which look real interesting and again, unusual, one of a kind type pieces.
Lastly, the prices here are extremely reasonable when you consider the quality, design and uniqueness of the pieces they have.
If you go there once, I’m sure you will go back again and again.

Pistachios has been my go-​to jewelry source for over 20 years, since it was on Delaware — it educated me in well-​designed jewelry as a young woman; and now, after visiting jewelry galleries/​stores all over the world (or at least on my way), it’s still my go-​to source! I always find at least 5 – 6 things to add to my wish list and typically 2 – 3 things to buy every time I walk in the store (which is as often as possible) — and so do all of my girlfriends! We even got my engagement and wedding rings there — they found me an excellent quality conflict-​free diamond for my setting and were incredibly patient and helpful as I looked at just about every ring in the store over multiple visits. The jewelry designers are often from Germany and other European countries, but also from the US as well. The designs are typically modern and often in unusual metals with unusual finishes. The prices range quite a bit: but in my opinion, the prices are moderate for what they offer. Yes, some pieces are on the high side but not as high as many other stores, and there are plenty of reasonably priced items that you can buy to treat yourself without guilt — also the jewelry is gorgeous, well-​crafted, and you can wear it forever — I am still wearing all of my early pieces even years later. My taste in jewelry includes artsy, casual, fun, dressy, and traditional (since I work in Finance), and I can always find something to fit all of these styles, but with artful design, uniqueness, beauty, elegance, and more that you would be hard-​pressed to find anywhere else. I keep urging Pistachios to do more business on the Internet because the range is so incredible and I want my friends overseas to be able to shop for everything at Pistachios online! I tell everyone I meet to go to Pistachios and get tons of compliments on my jewelry. Their scarves and other gift items are nice, too — my husband loves their cuff links, and his wedding ring is from Pistachios, too. Definitely think that if you like great jewelry and unique things, you need to check out Pistachios. (added this twice b/​c for some reason there are two entries for Pistachios in Unilocal

I’m a boorish male, I suppose, but I just don’t see what makes Pistachios all that great. In fact, I really don’t understand why this little artsy boutique is called «Pistachios» in the first place. If you’re like me, and saw a sign bearing that moniker, you would likely expect to find some pistachio nuts for sale. Or if not, something representative of the pistachio in some form. What you get is the exact OPPOSITE of a pistachio nut.
Pistachio nuts are edible, difficult to crack into, and are moderately-​priced. What you will find in this store is inedible, fragile overly-​expensive merchandise.
While I found the blown glass fish and kitties and «Big Weiner» dog pieces to be quite interesting to look at — none of them warrant a price in the hundreds of dollars. The necklaces that are priced at over $ 400 — are you kidding me? And watches costing over $ 200? Do they tell time more accurately than digital watches that cost $ 10, or is it more likely that the fragmented gewgaws and baubles covering it have more of a chance of rendering the watch’s hands inaccurate although it can be claimed to be «part of the artist’s vision — a watch that is useless at telling time»?
But again, maybe it’s just me. Maybe there are people out there who can see the worth in a small colored glass vase costing $ 76. I’d rather hit up Sears and get something just as functional and less artsy-​fartsy for a fraction of the price.
As we were preparing to leave (because in these shops, I become overly paranoid that I’m going to break something by looking directly at it and will have to then pay for the broken monstrocity) we encountered a woman trying on earrings and asking her salesperson if they looked okay and she wasn’t too old for them that they should be worn on someone younger-​looking. The salesperson was of course adamant that they looked great on her, and after about 30 seconds of this, I just had to step in and say «as a nonpartisan bystander, I would agree that they look nice» — which they did. She had chosen some of the less-​gaudy pieces they had on display, and if she was willing to shell out that kind of money for them, I would at least tell her she honestly chose something decent-​looking.
And then my girl and I got the hell out of there.

If you love the Pistachios on Grand, you’ll love the Pistachios on Franklin.
They sell jewelry from artisans from all over the world. And these aren’t your typical designs! The pieces at Pistachios are unique to the extreme.
This is a great shop to visit if you are looking for a wow-​inducing gift for that special someone. Most of the jewelry comes in over $ 100, but is worth every penny. The chances you’ll see these pieces on someone else in Chicago are highly unlikely. Gotta love that!
Pistachios also has a few gifts for under $ 100. Glitzy business card holders and fun keychains to name just a few. Check out the walls for modern clocks and beautifully blown glass.
While you’re in the neighborhood, stop by the many art galleries in this section of River North. It’s sure to make for a successful day of shopping!

Walk down the stairs just inside the front doors of North Bridge Mall, which lead you down onto Grand Avenue and you will soon stumble upon Pistachios, an amazing little shop full of unique jewelry, glass items, scarves and such. The two women working there were welcoming and warm (on what was a cold day). There are a variety of styles of jewelry so I would say there is something for everyone, though it leaned toward the more streamlined. I really liked the handblown glass cream and sugar sets in different colors that were scattered throughout the store.
The prices are on the high side but for a «gallery» type shop I would expect this. Definitely different items from the average gift or jewelry shop. I will be back the next time I am in that part of town.

Very cute! They have truly unique and interesting pieces of jewelry. Not my style, but I still appreciate the artistic quality. The staff is very friendly and not too pushy. Every piece has a story to tell!
Beware though… the prices are very high! Especially for the types of materials used. Great place if you’re buying for someone with a unique edge.

This place has things that I’ve never seen anywhere else… almost everything here would make a good gift, especially to someone artsy. Definitely worth at least a look. A little pricey though, but quality and uniqueness come at a cost some times!

This is one of the most unique jewelry stores in Chicago. They carry a wide variety of pieces by many different designers. I frequented their older location on Delaware and bought my favorite ring ever there. When one of the stones fell out 8 years later, I called them to ask about replacing it and not only were they more than helpful, they even knew the exact ring and designer I was talking about. Bottom line… excellent, unique jewelry and gifts and amazing customer service.