- Joined
- Apr 26, 2007
- Messages
- 8,087
... I dub the genre "JACLJS," pronounced "jackels."
Ugh. Usually I read the stories about amateur hour jewelers with a grain of salt, simply because I've known so many good ones ... but I give, I give! Just had my first experience coming in as a schmoe from the street, and WOW.
Instead of doing it myself or going to 47th as usual, I figured I'd try the place around the corner from me and eat the premium - after all, I didn't need anything complicated done, just setting a stone, and popping the baby in the Bjorn to head downtown is turning into more of a production now that he's getting bigger.
Warning sign number one: when I gave the ring with the stone sitting in the prongs unset to the saleslady, she kept insisting it was already set. Lady, trust me, I popped that sucker in there myself: it is NOT.
Warning sign number two: she tried to tell me the prongs would need to be lengthened. Again, speaking as somebody who knows from jewelry ... nope. Though I'm sure it's a nice way to get more cash from people who are new to the whole jewelry thing.
I should have listened to my gut, but it's a gorgeous day and I didn't need the agita, so I left it, called to check, and picked it up, and, ugh. UGLY prongs - they basically just bent them over without trimming, filing, or polishing them. Again, not worth the agita to fight them on it, but ... wow, they must hate money, to make this the first experience of a lady who pretty obviously loves jewelry.
On the upside: I might not have had the time to set the thing myself or to go down to 47th to have somebody else do it for me, but I CAN, so I just finished the prongs myself, and it looks fine now ... and in the process, found the only thing that had ever "disappeared" off my bench during a party hidden inside the box where I keep my bead pushers! So, the faith in humanity lost by the jeweler is regained by the find, leveling out to a head-shaking, somewhat amused net zero.
How about you? Any JACLJs?
Ugh. Usually I read the stories about amateur hour jewelers with a grain of salt, simply because I've known so many good ones ... but I give, I give! Just had my first experience coming in as a schmoe from the street, and WOW.
Instead of doing it myself or going to 47th as usual, I figured I'd try the place around the corner from me and eat the premium - after all, I didn't need anything complicated done, just setting a stone, and popping the baby in the Bjorn to head downtown is turning into more of a production now that he's getting bigger.
Warning sign number one: when I gave the ring with the stone sitting in the prongs unset to the saleslady, she kept insisting it was already set. Lady, trust me, I popped that sucker in there myself: it is NOT.
Warning sign number two: she tried to tell me the prongs would need to be lengthened. Again, speaking as somebody who knows from jewelry ... nope. Though I'm sure it's a nice way to get more cash from people who are new to the whole jewelry thing.
I should have listened to my gut, but it's a gorgeous day and I didn't need the agita, so I left it, called to check, and picked it up, and, ugh. UGLY prongs - they basically just bent them over without trimming, filing, or polishing them. Again, not worth the agita to fight them on it, but ... wow, they must hate money, to make this the first experience of a lady who pretty obviously loves jewelry.
On the upside: I might not have had the time to set the thing myself or to go down to 47th to have somebody else do it for me, but I CAN, so I just finished the prongs myself, and it looks fine now ... and in the process, found the only thing that had ever "disappeared" off my bench during a party hidden inside the box where I keep my bead pushers! So, the faith in humanity lost by the jeweler is regained by the find, leveling out to a head-shaking, somewhat amused net zero.
How about you? Any JACLJs?
But I love this term.
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