Twist

A favorite place to shop while in the Portland area. They have accessories for the home and jewelry galore, from fun casual fashion to exquisite luxury styles. The selection of creative jewelry designers comes from our own backyard of the USA, as well as far away places spanning the globe.
Can’t decide on which item to choose? Aleathea, the store manager, and her wonderful staff are warm, friendly, engaging, and very helpful. They are extremely knowledgeable about the product in the store, will listen to your ideas, and guide you with your selection.
Shopping for yourself (for me, it’s always all about scoping out the Jamie Joseph case first!) or someone special, you just can’t go wrong at Twist!

I love this store, the merchandise and the employees. I never feel rushed or pressured to buy anything. You are given the same attention if you buy something which costs $ 50 or $ 5000. They carry things you cannot get anywhere else in Portland and in very few places in the country.

Lovely merchandise, horrible people. Lots of stories among locals about this place — including that a salesperson convinced a spouse that his wife’s secret birthday wish was to have a particular and very, very expensive item when all she’d said, on an earlier shopping trip, was «it’s nice» — at the salesperson’s insistence. Husband bought it, wife — who didn’t like the piece — was horrified but couldn’t return it because it would hurt his feelings. Like that. So many lovely stores in Portland where the sales staff is friendlier and the experience is far more pleasant.

Sooooo good!!! I’m addicted. I got the Snickers and Cake Batter flavors

This is a neat little shop with some pretty and unique jewelry. Little bit spendy, but I went to their annual sale and they seemed to have some pretty good mark downs.

Well I’m not allowed to open it but I just got the most amazing Judy Geib emerald ring! It looks like something from a museum or one of those early 20^th century colonial ‘digs’ in Egypt. Except it’s a Colombian emerald and it’s stunning. I can’t believe it’s mine– and here’s the clincher– we are not the types to splash out thousands for jewels… As in Ever because Sarah Lawrence College took my jewelry budget away until I’m 166 years old where I will sadly no longer be in the need to buy rings of any kind, just a quality shroud. This ring was priced wrong and TWIST gave it to me for the lower price. That’s a business that cares about it’s customers. Dig it.

What a beautiful store. So much art, jewelry, housewares, and really lovely service. I didn’t buy anything but really enjoyed browsing and admiring and didn’t feel pressured at all.

Although I did not purchase anything at the store, Sarah was extremely patient and helpful. Beautiful jewelry and unique gifts.

My fiancé and I visited Twist on a trip to Portland in December 2013. I had been looking at engagement rings online, and everything I liked on Pinterest and Google Images seemed to originate at Twist Online.
From the moment we walked into the store, we were impressed by the unique and special pieces we saw. The owner (I think it was Paul) and sales manager Alethea were helpful in answering our questions, let us try on as many rings as we wanted, and even let us walk around wearing one particular ring to see if it was a good fit.
After we purchased the ring, we were initially dismayed to hear that the sizing process could potentially take a month or longer with shipping (we live in Illinois), given that all our relatives would be in town for Christmas and were interested to see the ring. However, Alethea was wonderful in working with the designer to have the ring shipped to us in time for the holiday. It arrived on Christmas eve, perfectly sized, and my family was thrilled. It was a great experience.
I am very happy with my ring; it’s different from any other engagement ring I’ve ever seen, and was fairly priced. The customer service was excellent, and the rings are beautifully produced, with every kind of option from traditional to non-​traditional. I highly recommend Twist online for your jewelry purchases. It’s well worth the trip to Portland!

Can’t say enough good things about my experience working with the crew at Twist! For what it is worth, I rarely take the time to draft a review on Unilocal.It usually requires a disaster or extraordinary good service, Twist is very much the latter.
From start to finish my experience was fantastic. Brilliant collection of emerging star designers, knowledgeable agents, quick response, secure shipping and caring follow up. Yup, they kill it!

This review is for my overall experience purchasing and sizing my engagement ring.
Such a shame our experience ended so sourly as we were oh so excited for the whole experience and invested a fair chuck of change — I’m talking 5 figures change.
We travelled to Portland to find the perfect ring and were awestruck by the one we found online through twist. The online description called the ring «a ring of which dreams are made» and it really is! What we didn’t know was that the ring we saw online was actually in Seattle so the Jewelry Manager Renee had it sent down for us — rad right? So far, so good. Now this ring is actually stunning, a one of a kind Mandrel Studio Old Mine Cut Diamond with a diamond halo and rose gold band and I was lucky enough to be given it. The ring was a size too big but luckily the ring included free sizing and appraisal. At the time when told the sizing would take around 4 weeks we discussed with Renee whether we should just wear it home and get it sized in our home city Vancouver, BC — she assured us that it would be absolutely no problem getting it sized, most likely under $ 100 and no big deal, famous last words!
So Credit Card approved and here’s where it starts to go downhill. Literally as soon as the sale was made we were no longer a concern to the store.
We brought my ring home and diligently worked our way through the Unilocal best custom jewellers and then just general jewellers to hear the exact same response. «Yours is a semi tension setting and to resize the ring will compromise the entire ring — the only person that can do this is the studio who created it!» time and time again I was told that there was nobody that would take on the risk of sizing such a valuable ring — it’s custom and every jeweller knew it, just as Renee should have known. At this point we started to get the inkling that maybe Renee’s words were less truthful and way more sales driven.
So… we talk to Twist who tells us that yes they will size it, no problem, we just needed to pay to ship it to them Fedex Priority and also pay to insure it while we are at it. Super, so the ring goes back to Portland and then gets rerouted to NY for the actual work to get done. At this time I take a look at our receipt and realize that when I gave Renee my ID so she could get the spelling of my difficult name, she had also taken down my old address without confirming it. Now my extremely expensive ring is in NY and Twist has my incorrect address, great! I called twist twice and also emailed Renee to ask them to update my address in the system. I obviously get no email back because Commission has probably already been received and on both phone calls, the employee takes down my address, but can’t confirm which address is currently tied to my account. At this point it’s been 4 weeks and I’m beside myself, I’m getting no response and for all I know the ring is anywhere. Keep in mind at the same time we take my fiancée’s ring to Cartier for her sizing and we have received 4 phone calls total from them, just checking in and giving us timing updates. When you’re dealing with two different companies in the exact same facet it becomes blatantly obvious which company is doing it right!!!
A little Customer Service goes a long way and the complete lack thereof post purchase in this case completely tarnished our entire ring buying experience.
We finally get the call that the ring is ready and after expressing how stressful and disappointing her complete lack of response has been we are finally free of Renee — our ring will be sent to the Seattle store where we can pick it up. Here in lies the silver lining, the store manager in Seattle Cullen is awesome, he is friendly on the phone and even returned a phone call to me, groundbreaking! We were planning on purchasing our 2 wedding bands from Twist PDX as well and since they too will be Mandrel (who only makes the specific collection for Twist) we don’t have a choice in the matter — rest assured we’ll be going to Cullen in Seattle for those.
In the end my ring came back slightly irregular, if you look at one of the sides of the halo the diamonds head slightly south — honestly though, I have no way of knowing if it was that way at purchase or it happened at sizing not to mention I would never EVER ask them to fix it because of the huge issues that would surely ensue.
I had to give some stars as Laura who was our initial helper was super friendly and the ring itself truly is a ring of which dreams are made.

Absolutely gorgeous and unique.
But absolutely you are going to pay for it.
It’s definitely worth a walk around to see what amazing pieces artists are designing out there.

We visited Twist in July 2013 when first searching for an engagement ring. Although we ended up purchasing a ring elsewhere, I still wanted to recommend Twist for the fantastic customer service we received. Our salesperson was knowledgeable and friendly, able to walk the fine line between making good suggestions without being pushy. She let us step outside to see the ring in the light and was excited about our less traditional wish-​list for a ring. We felt no pressure to buy anything as we left and simply ended our experience feeling well taken care of in an often opinionated and sales-​driven industry.
The jewelry is certainly expensive, but they do have some more affordable options — the ring we went in to see was only $ 700, and there were a few others at under $ 1000. They provide a nice selection of classic and unique jewelry if it’s within your budget, and help support both big-​name and local artists.

UPDATE: Cathy Waterman and Akira from Twist helped to fix the ring and cover the cost. Both were very kind in contacting me and were very helpful in addressing the issue. They also gave me some helpful hints to keep it protected in the future. My wife is definitely happy to have her Waterman leaf band back on her finger, as it is her favorite jewelry item!

Amazing selection of some of the best small jewelry designers. Probably one of the current top 20 best jewelry stores in the US focused on contemporary fine jewelry. Better selection than Barney’s & a favorite

Fantastic. My partner and I had been searching for commitment rings extensively — we wanted something unique, artisan, contemporary but not mass-​produced AND on a budget. After many disappointments, TWIST was a breath of fresh air. Laura was so so sweet, friendly, and knowledgeable — never pushy, she made what had previously been a source of stress fun & enjoyable. I should note that as a same-​sex couple, shopping for rings can get really awkward in certain jewelry stores. Nothing of the sort here. We found the PERFECT piece and at an uncommonly reasonable price — below our budget. Whatever it is you’re shopping for, start at TWIST!

My previous experiences at Twist have been great, but the last time my husband and I were there, June/​July 2012, we had the worst experience. The girl who greeted us would not stop following us around the store. She kept talking to us, asking personal questions, wouldn’t let us browse. She even followed us outside while I was taking pictures of the metal duck! My husband and I finally felt so uncomfortable that we left. We were PLANNING on spending money to buy some unique jewelry and kitchenware. Nope.

What bride doesn’t dream of her perfect gown, ceremony and RING before the big day? With so many blogs and magazines out there dedicated to creating the most perfect and unique wedding, shouldn’t that coveted ring finger have extra special treatment, too? Alas, there is Twist, fine purveyors of the ultimate wedding symbol. You’re not going to find mass-​produced, blasse rings that are thoughtlessly splashed on every bridal publication in here. Real artisans and goldsmiths forging unique creations by hand that will have everyone asking, «WHERE did you find that?!» are abound in this jewelry metropolis. Designers like Cathy Waterman, Polly Wales, Monique Pean, Mandrel Studio, L Frank, Deszo and more will show you just how fine an art jewelry can be. Not to mention, their knowledgeable and welcoming staff are primed for any questions that may come their way regarding your big day.

Never have I encountered a store like this one where I love every single item I lay my eyes on. You can tell each collection of items from jewelry to sculpture are handpicked. Each piece is a beautiful work of art. I had ordered from their online website a few times over the last 10 years or so, but visiting the shop in person surpassed all my expectations. I want to give a shout out to Megan, who helped my husband pick out and purchase a gift for me on the sly while I was looking around — I had no idea a transaction happened! Megan was wonderful too in showing me various jewelry in the store’ and I marveled at her knowledge of the artists and the individual facts of each piece. She even had me try on some very pricey items just for fun… in her words, «It’s always fun to play dress up!»
I feel lucky to have been able to visit and also come away with a beautiful bracelet. I definitely will continue to be a devotee and loyal customer!

My favorite jewelry store on the planet (they have a shop in Seattle that I’ve been to a few times as well). They have everything from special occasion to costume to diamonds and pearls. This is the place I send my significant other any time I am due for a special treat. The sales staff here are amazing. They will email photos and work with you over the phone, but nothing beats going in person and trying everything on. Oh, and they carry my very favorite mother/​son jewelry team: Love Heals. Absolutely gorgeous sterling silver necklaces made with medallions and charms and crosses. Love them!
Five hundred stars.