How much to have a stone tightened down?

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi Everyone,

I have a smaller stone that needs to be tightened. It's a four prong .20 diamond earring and it belonged to my mom (so I don't have the jeweler to take it to).

I'm wondering:

A) How much should I expect to be charged?
B) Am I suppose to tip the jeweler (I ask this b/c I got my upper ear pierced and EVERY time I go in to the piercing place to get my barbel changed, they sterilize it, so a tip is expected and they never seem to approve of the amount I give them!)? lol

Thanks.

 

[ame]

I don't think I've ever tipped a jeweler...but I have also never paid for them to push the prongs down...

 

[Phoenix]

I don't think I've ever tipped a jeweler...but I have also never paid for them to push the prongs down...

That's been my experience too. A word of caution though: my local jeweller bent one of the prongs on my BGD/ LM studs and my heart is still in broken pieces about it. Perhaps it might be better to offer to pay them a nominal fee (beforehand, and not a tip as that would only take place after the fact) as opposed to have it done free, as in the latter case you'd have no recourse. Just a thought.

 

[Rockdiamond]

It really is one of those "no charge" jobs jewelers should perform for their clients-
A smart jeweler would extend that courtesy to you MC.... in the hopes you'll return to shop.
If I had to put a price in it...$10?

You might not get to meet the workperson that performs this task- so it might not be possible to tip them

phoenix brings up a great point- a bad job in this can be VERY costly- so please choose well.
Can you post a photo of the piece? - I might be able to give a more informed opinion.

 

[denverappraiser]

And therein is the rub. If it goes badly, these guys are taking a huge risk and if it goes well it's supposed to be free. Talk about a no-win deal. Who's surprised that it's difficult to recruit people to become bench jewelers and it's difficult to get them to stick around through the learning curve while they get good at it or that the people we know are skilled wouldn't touch this kind of job for any price?

Pick a jeweler you trust and then pay him/her their price. It just doesn't matter if it's $10 or $30, does it? The cheapest are rarely the best and if they decide to offer it for free because you're a good customer elsewhere, that's their call. Should you tip him? No, I think not. It's a professional service and he set the price. The exception would be if it's a corporate type store that DOES give it to you for 'free' and the work is being done as a rush job by some drone in the back room. Mostly these kind of shops pay on a commission basis and the store is trying to earn your business for later. That's fine, and it's possibly good marketing for the store, but that worker gets no benefit whatever from this even if you do come back and buy something.