How to Find Good Jewelry Repair

Finding good jewelry repair can be the beginning of a beautiful relationship for you and the jeweler. Avoid the pitfalls & feel confident following these steps for jewelry repair.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Jewelry needing repair
• Patience
• Time
• Loupe or magnifying lens

1. You have a wedding ring you need re-sized, a broken gold bracelet, a vintage costume necklace you need extended-all these are jobs for an experienced bench jeweler. Locate in your community independent jewelry stores, with in-house bench jewelers. Ask people in the community who does good affordable jewelry repair. Take your jewelry to one or more jewelers & ask for an evaluation of repair costs.

2. 
    
   Examination of Your Jewelry

   EXAMINATION:A good jeweler examines your jewelry in front of you using a jeweler' s head visor or loupe. He/she should ask questions regarding the age of your fine jewelry & the kind of repair work you need. The jeweler discusses the overall condition he sees with you. Perhaps more work is required of your diamond ring than you originally thought. An honest jeweler tells you if special repair, like laser welding, is required and if they own that equipment.

3. 
    
   Resized Size 5 1/2 Antique 14KT Amethyst Ring

   YOUR QUESTIONS: Is the jeweler confident they can do the repair? Do they recommend repair? Sometimes the answer is no. Size 4 rings are very difficult to turn into size 8. Sometimes broken prongs on gold rings can cost more than you wish to spend. Ask how much the repair costs & why. Also ask how much time is needed for repair & why. Typically, cleaning a pocket watch costs $100.

4. 
    
   Reset Peridot Iolite Victorian Ring

   ANSWERS & DECISIONS: You must decide if what you are willing to spend for your jewelry. The value of family jewelry is often related to the memories rather than simple jewelry value. Sometimes labor & gold prices make repair costs more than originally anticipated. If in doubt, take the jewelry home & consider your options.

5. 
    
   Typical Jewelry Repair Envelopes

   INTAKE: You decided to repair your inherited aunt's art deco ring. Your jeweler writes down the actual repair information & gives you a copy. Some jewelers photograph the item for record keeping & liability. Make sure all your information is on that repair ticket including your phone number(s).

6. 
    
   Respect the Jeweler & Pick Up Your Repair

   NO-NO'S: Never leave jewelry for repair & decide not to pick it up. Jewelers make little profit from repair. They consider it a service. We have seen many sad gold pocket watches hanging on our jeweler's wall never retrieved by their owners.

Tips & Warnings

• Examine the jewelry before you bring it in with a magnifying lens or loupe
• Be patient, fine bench jewelers may take 2+ weeks for repair.
• Contact your jeweler if you have not heard from them after FOUR WEEKS
• Gold and silver prices can affect the repair prices

Resources

• Jasne Jewels

[Susanh]

on 2/2/2009 A quality jewelry repair person is difficult to find, so thanks for your tips.

[Gottaloveit]

on 1/26/2009 Great advice and, once you find that special jeweler who can repair, send friends and purchase new items from him. Your jeweler can be your new best friend!

[GreenGardenChic]

on 10/27/2008 Great advice for jewelry repair. I've had a heck of a time finding a good watch repair shop, I wish I had this info before.