Local jewelers need to step it up!

[JPie]

I was strolling through my neighborhood one weekend and came upon a beautiful ring with an OEC center. After making a few passes at it like a fruit fly hovering at an overripe banana, I asked to see it. The staff told me the price ($5K) and a little about the jeweler who made it. They gave me pretty confused looks when I told them how much I like old European cuts. I asked about the color and clarity, and the sales associate said she didn’t have that information and would need to reach out to the jeweler. Who the heck sells a $5,000 ring and doesn’t know the color or clarity?!

I chalked it up to the store being more about inexpensive jewelry until I went to a higher-end local store. I looked at a DBTY necklace with 0.5 ctw for $2,000. I asked for color and clarity and the sales associate said she’d have to email the designer.

Local stores would probably do a lot more business if they were more knowledgeable, trained their staff better, and provided basic information about their product.

Am I just expecting too much?

 

[hathalove]

Yeah. Idiots!

 

[JPie]

Yeah. Idiots!

 

[bludiva]

i find at the stores here most of the salespeople are salespeople, not gemologists and not always that experienced with jewelry. they could have been a salesperson at a high end department store the week before.

i feel like most people buy what they think is pretty/impressive without researching a lot into what makes for a high quality piece of jewelry. it's hard not to cringe at some of the sales pitches.

 

[Bonfire]

i find at the stores here most of the salespeople are salespeople, not gemologists and not always that experienced with jewelry. they could have been a salesperson at a high end department store the week before.

i feel like most people buy what they think is pretty/impressive without researching a lot into what makes for a high quality piece of jewelry. it's hard not to cringe at some of the sales pitches.

Exactly. The average buyer that walks through the door has no knowledge or inclination to ask about the most basic information. “Oh that’s pretty!”

 

[PreRaphaelite]

Can you imagine a chain of jewellery shops run by PSers?
(I mean besides the ones that actually are)
Information on everything! Nuanced discussions! Disagreements that are 99% civil!
Heaven.

 

[Arcadian]

I was strolling through my neighborhood one weekend and came upon a beautiful ring with an OEC center. After making a few passes at it like a fruit fly hovering at an overripe banana, I asked to see it. The staff told me the price ($5K) and a little about the jeweler who made it. They gave me pretty confused looks when I told them how much I like old European cuts. I asked about the color and clarity, and the sales associate said she didn’t have that information and would need to reach out to the jeweler. Who the heck sells a $5,000 ring and doesn’t know the color or clarity?!

I chalked it up to the store being more about inexpensive jewelry until I went to a higher-end local store. I looked at a DBTY necklace with 0.5 ctw for $2,000. I asked for color and clarity and the sales associate said she’d have to email the designer.

Local stores would probably do a lot more business if they were more knowledgeable, trained their staff better, and provided basic information about their product.

Am I just expecting too much?

I could write a book on this! there are only 2 stores that actually know thier stuff around me and so many that don't know squat.....so I feel I'm blessed and lucky for that. I'm also close to Graff. Not that I can afford it but its pretty damn nice on the inside.

 

[Rockdiamond]

Local jewelers are truly stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Before Diamonds by Lauren, my job was selling diamonds to jewelry stores. I spent many years traveling to local stores across the US- and in the Caribbean. There were a few stores where the owner/buyer was a true specialist....but in general, diamond experts were always hard to find in local jewelry stores
Having spent as much time here as I have, I feel very prepared for the type of questions commonly asked here on PS.
But what's the likelihood a salesperson in a local store would be prepared....really none.
Plus, think about what a local jewelry store must be able to do- watch batteries, repairs, gold chains, colored stone rings- there's so much to know. There's only so much time in a day!

Then we have changes in the market- "virtual" sellers are advertising prices based on margins that are minuscule. It's easy to sell for single-digit profits if the only investment is in a website.
But a store has to offer so much more than a virtual seller- and that all costs money.
I honestly believe that many people who educate themselves ( here, and other places) are willing to pay a little extra to get better service- and advice.
But lets' face it- more people only shop price. And a local store is definitely likely to find more of those.....

These and other factors show that local jewelers are in a fight for survival. It's not pretty.
Personally, I hope that many of my old customers can make it. But it's clearly an uphill battle....

 

[ohsomethingshiny]

A few months ago I went into a very reputable high end local jeweler and looked at 2+ ct rounds. I asked if they had any ASET or Ideal-Scope images on these larger stones and the salespeople looked at me like I had two heads. I asked if I could look at it through a loupe and they just kept talking about how pretty and sparkly the diamond was. I then told them that I was looking for a more ideal cut so that the hearts and arrows were well defined. Now I had four heads!! They both admitted to never hearing the term “hearts and arrows”.

I walked out.

 

[Mrs_Strizzle]

While my story might not be as bad as the above, my recent run in with a local jeweler was entertaining. I brought in by beautiful Chrysoberyl and an image I downloaded from PS of a gold bangle that had been made with a bezeled diamond. I was told that it couldn't be made because it would break (what?), and they wanted to know what kind of synthetic did "Chrysoberyl" mean. My husband later told me he won't question why I send my business to the other side of the country to Los Angeles anymore.

 

[vintageloves]

In my experience, they don't know or understand the products they are selling and they mislead customers. I have minimal sympathy for their profit margins, when it's built off ignorance and not providing good product for customers. I'm not even talking about having super ideal cuts or having aset images. It's that they say things like "square emerald cuts are called princess cuts." Just basic, easy stuff that anyone with google can tell is not true. It erodes my trust as a consumer. It would be like going to a car lot and the salesperson not knowing what a Camry is.

 

[BlingBlingLova]

Or what really irks me is when they see a piece of jewelry on me or I take a piece of jewelry to them to Have the prongs inspected and then they ask me “How much did you pay for this?” And then I tell them and then the jeweler says omg you overpaid! And HIS pieces are sooooo much better quality and he ends up poo pooing your jewelry piece! Folks I see this time and time again.