Choosing a jewelry repair shop is critically important. They need to be able to be trusted with your valuables, understand the sentiment, and do good work. All this while providing a reasonable price in a reasonable amount of time. There is a lot to consider before you choose a jewelry repair business. Below I will share with my experience from the jewelry repair near me and help you walk through how to choose one.
Where to Find Jewelry Repair Near Me
If you are looking for “jewelry repair near me”, use the map below…
Before we get into you should consider all your options. This includes whether or not you can call your manufacturer for service. For example if you have Tiffany piece, could you get work done by sending it to their authorized service center.
Also consider calling around to several places and getting quotes. reading reviews and looking at pictures of their before and after work are important as well. I will discuss more how to choose a jewelry repair in a bit, but first…
What Are The Options If Your Local Jeweler Can’t Do the Work…
If you have called around to local jewelers and haven’t settled on one, it’s easy to feel hopeless. Your next best option is to find out if your manufacturer has an authorized service center.
An authorized service center is a place that a manufacturer has certified as experts and ha authorized them to perform work on their products. Almost all jewelers run their own or outsource their repair work and they only certify specific locations as being competent. You can find authorized service centers for all the big manufacturers of watches, rings, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. If your jewelry is still under warranty these are the only places that can honor it.
The disadvantage of these places are they are impersonal and the repairs can take weeks to complete. You also can’t just walk into one and drop off your jewelry. Most require you to mail your pieces in. Then you have to wait for them to inspect it and make a price estimate.
Here are the major difference between a local repair and a service center…
Jewelry Repair Boutique vs an Authorized Service Center
Both can do your work, but there are some big differences between them that you need to consider.
The Jewelry Repair Near Me
When you take your jewelry to your local jeweler there is often a personal touch. It is often a hands on customer experience where they want to treat you like family. They will ask about the piece you need fixed, what’s wrong with it, how long have you had it, is it a family heir loom etc. Then they will assess the piece give you a price quote and estimate the time for a repair.
There are instances that may require specialized experts where your local jeweler will need to mail your piece to someone else. An example might be a pocket watch from the 1800’s that a specialized horologist needs to overhaul the movement on. Other repairs may involve fabrication or customization that they will outsource. Simpler asks like cleaning your jewelry, replacing a stone, or repairing a broken clasp will be tasks done on premise.
The downside is that your local jeweler is likely not an authorized technician for your brand. Even if you bought the piece from their store. While they may be fully able to repair your piece, them performing work on it may void the manufacturers warranty. The same can be said if you were to try and fix your own watch, necklace, earring, ring or bracelet. You would potentially void the warranty because you are not an authorized technician.
The only exception here would be if your local jeweler is Tiffany. Taking a Tiffany piece to them would be an authorized service center.
Finding an Authorized Service Center
An authorized service center is the only place you can get a warranty honored. Most jewelry has a two year limited liability warranty that covers manufacturers defects and craftsmanship. If your repair falls under that blanket then the work will be completed for free. Any work that is done will also be certified to hold up for 12 months from the day you receive the repair work back.
If you are making a claim against the warranty, you will be asked to prove the warranty is till valid. You will need to provide a warranty card, original receipt with the purchase date, the model number of the piece, and the purchase price.
Authorized service centers do great work, but they can take 2 to 5 weeks on average and you may never actually speak to a person through out the process. You will be filling out a service request form online and then mailing in your piece. You will need to write out the problem and describe the issue in specific details. It is helpful to understand some common jewelry parts like pendent and clasp, or on a watch the crystal and the crown for example. It just makes communicating more efficient.
Why Guaranteed Work Makes a Difference…
When work has a guarantee it is a big deal. My friend had 4 diamonds fall out of her wedding band. She went to a local jeweler and he found 4 matching diamonds and set them in the band. About 4 weeks after the repair 3 of the 4 diamonds fell out. When she went back to the local jeweler, he said he can’t just put 3 new diamonds in, she must pay for them. Needless to say she was angry and went to find another jeweler to work with going forward.
How Long is Your Warranty on Your Jewelry?
A common jewelry warranty is a two year limited liability warranty. That is the norm, however you need to look up the warranty for your specific piece. Different manufacturers not only have different warranty lengths some do or don’t cover certain parts.
If you don’t know if the warranty is expired, it makes sense to go to a local jeweler. If you don’t know the manufacturer of the piece, your local jewelry shop may actually be able to tell you.
What Kind of Problems Can the Jewelry Repair Near Me Fix
Your local jeweler is likely an expert in a variety of disciplines. They should be able to show you pictures of their completed and provide customers for reference. Here are some common services my local jeweler does:
- Battery Replacement: Only takes a couple minutes and they stock a variety of battery sizes for watches.
- Stem and Crown Repair: As long as a new stem doesn’t need to be fabricated.
- Strap Replacement: Carries a variety of bands and straps for watches and can put them on your timepiece for you.
- Cleaning and Inspection: Will inspect your jewelry and will perform deep cleaning and polishing.
- Crystal Repair and Replacement: Will carry a variety of crystals in the shop, will need to send out for vintage timepieces.
- Clasp or link Replacement: Resizing services are one of the most common repairs requested. Can custom fit your jewelry.
- Loose Stones: Stone comes loose over time on necklaces, earrings, and rings. They can tighten the clasps and secure the stones.
- Bent Metal: Depending how bad a metal piece is bent will determine if they can the work.
- Earrings Backers Replacement: Replacing earrings backers and matching to set.
- Ring Sizing: Increase or decrease the diameter of the ring.
- Rhodium Plating
- Soldering
- Diamond or Gem Stone Replacement
- Pearl and Bead Restringing
- Engraving
- Appraisal
- Restoration and Refinishing
- Stone Matching
The jewelry repair near me offers all of the above services, but will outsource depending on the complexity. Most of what they will do are deal with common repair issues.
Can Jewelry Stores Near Me Fix Antique Pieces?
Taking a family heir loom or antique piece to a local jeweler is a good place to start, but they will probably point you somewhere else. While these folks are experts, that expertise has it’s limitations and they may not want the risk of working on a very old priceless piece.
For certain items you may need to seek out a restoration company or an antique repair company. These places are more familiar with vintage pieces and will know how to find replacement parts on the secondary market. When parts can’t be found they will be able fabricate the parts you need. Simply put your local jewelry repair can’t do this kind of work.
Where to Get Jewelry Cleaned Near Me
Cleaning and polishing jewelry is actually considered repair work. Your local repair shop can clean and polish a variety of metals like gold, silver, bronze, and platinum. They can even stone polishing.
A repair shop has tools that you and I just don’t have. This includes ultrasonic cleaners and brushes that can get down into the fine crevice of an engraved interior on a ring. Some repair shops when cleaning actually take the jewelry apart. They remove every stone and clean each individually, clean the setting, and then put it all back together.
If you want to know the process or your local repair, you should call an ask. It is important to know how your valuables will be treated in their care!
Here are some other cleaning tips as well for upkeep.
How to Choose a Jewelry Repair Near Me
Choosing the best repair shop takes some time. If you are looking for repair work on a really valuable piece, you need to be extremely through in your research.
Here are the steps I use to find a Jewelry repair near me:
- Call several shops and get multiple quotes for both cost and repair turnaround
- Ask for a customer reference and then call that customer and ask them questions
- Read reviews and testimonials online, but not from their website (Google Reviews and Yelp reviews)
- Ask them to provide before and after picks of some of the previous work
- Ask if you can visit their shop and see their process
How Much is a Jewelry Repair Near Me?…
Costs will vary depending on the issue, the brand, the type of metal or stones involved, the age of the piece, and if parts are available. Regardless of the situation any good shop should be able to:
- Provide an accurate quote and tell what may impact that changing.
- Give you a estimate on the turnaround time and tell what may impact that changing.
- Turn you away if they can’t handle the job.
- Refer you to a place that is better suited for your needs.
Simplier issues like cleaning and small fixes like resizing a watch are generally cheap. Issues onvolving stones, bent metal, and watch movements are more expensive.
If They Can’t Fix It, Do I Still Pay?
In my experience a jeweler is going to be really honest and if they can’t fix it, they will say so up front. If you still want them to try, they should tell you their labor rate and how many hours they can attempt. If they can’t fix it, you will be responsible for paying for the labor.
Can I Get Tools to Repair It Myself
You can fix your jewelry yourself, but doing so is at your own risk. If you want to attempt it you should at least consider some basic repair tools. Keep in mind that if you attempt to repair a piece under warranty, you may be voiding your warranty.
Jewelry Repair Near Me Conclusion
Choosing the right repair shop is critical. In my experience, most local places are intimate and will really try to understand the story behind your piece. They will give you honest advice and any work they except is usually done to satisfaction. Of course the catch is the warranty and the guarantee of their completed work. You can only get that at an authorized service center. So you have to weight what is important to you. This is what I have learned from the jewelry repair near me.
