True stories from a local jeweler. (Really, they’re true!)
Written By Denise Chislett, Registered Jeweler, Underwood Jewelers
DO: Trust your jeweler. You will likely need to leave your jewelry with them for a few days since most reputable jewelers have so many jobs they cannot do yours while you wait. If you don’t trust your jeweler….find a NEW jeweler!
DO: Know a general value of your jewelry. This is for your protection and your jewelry will not be insured if you don’t give some kind of value in the unlikely event the building burns down or something drastic happens.
DO: Be specific in your instructions for the repair.
DO: If you are leaving a significant diamond for repair, ask the jeweler to plot a diagram of your diamond. Each diamond is unique like a snowflake and most have inclusions which can easily identify your stone.
DO: Get a receipt and keep it. Just like dropping your clothes off at the cleaners, it is easier for both parties if you have a claim tag and bring it with you when you pick up your repair.
DO: Ask for an estimate if the cost is important to you. Gold is expensive! It can be shocking when your repair comes back more expensive than your piece of jewelry.
DON’T: Get mad at your boyfriend and cut the necklace he gave you into 1,000 pieces because you are mad at him, and then take it to your jeweler to make it like new again before he finds out.
DON’T: Swallow your wedding band in a moment of drunken debauchery at a friend’s bachelor party, retrieve your band two weeks later (you get the idea), and then expect that a jeweler will want to touch it, much less repair it. Keep the dirty details to yourself.
DON’T: Try to save time and effort in cleaning your own jewelry by placing your rings in a cleaning solution, putting them in the microwave and then expect a jeweler to repair the unrecognizable, molten slag that has become your rings.
DON’T: Engrave “slang” words inside your wedding band and not expect the jeweler to look them up, embarrassing both of you when you pick up your engraving.
DON’T: Take a diamond you bought at pawn shop and take it into your local fine jewelers and try to have them set it in a nicer mounting. As the old saying goes… you can’t turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.
DON’T: Drop your engagement ring down the garbage disposal in a fit of rage and then expect the jeweler to believe that the ring is defective when you return it for repair.
