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On the flip side: tell us some good stories of local jewelers!

Joined
Apr 22, 2020
Messages
2,907
We’ve had a couple posts recently about problems with local jewelers or the wacky things we’ve been told by a jeweler, but I thought it would be fun to explore the flip side - tell us stories of the good guy local jeweler! The one who understands the importance of buying certed stones, gives you honest feedback on jewelry, doesn’t try to rip you off!

My go-to jeweler is fantastic, I’ve definitely mentioned him on here before (excellent bench, reasonable prices, and good policies), but the story I wanted to tell was about when I wanted to buy my studs:

He sat with me to understand what I wanted or liked, and then spent time helping me figure out how colour sensitive I was, instead of pushing me towards high colour (we did blind tests and I settled on H-I as my sweet spot), what constituted eyeclean for me (he helped me find the inclusions with a loupe for all the stones I was interested in), and even steered me away from a more expensive stone towards a less expensive one because the more expensive stone was not a good match for the other one I had already bought.

Now let’s hear about your good guy local jewelers!
 

missy

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jun 8, 2008
Messages
53,976
I love my jewelers. Gorgeous pieces. Fair prices. Lovely people. No complaints. And when they don’t think a piece is worth it or not special enough for me they tell me.
 

canuk-gal

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
25,644
HI:

I have great experiences as well. Tiffany has been great. Also, My go to jeweller in town not only makes the most beautiful pieces, but has supplied extra diamonds on pieces that I didn't get charged for.

cheers--Sharon
 

rcjtraveler

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
May 29, 2018
Messages
1,045
I have had some wonderful experiences with local jewelers and one I learned about when visiting Florence. They have all taken the time for me over many visits to pick out that special piece. I went to a local jeweler to reset my ER and they spent hours with me trying on various settings until I found what I wanted. They gave honest feedback when something did not look right despite the cost. They made a setting for my blue Finewater sapphire as well. While they showed me several sapphires they had, they were very gracious when I bought elsewhere and very complimentary about the sapphire I did choose. I would not hesitate to use any of them again.
 

Rons Wolfe

Shiny_Rock
Joined
Sep 21, 2020
Messages
386
My husband and I went to a local jeweler when we first started looking for my E-ring. We were pretty sure we'd get the diamond online, but weren't sure if we'd get the setting locally or online. At the jeweler we told them that, and the store owner said we could get the ring sized there and the stone mounted, even if we bought both online. Then he asked what we were looking for, our budget, etc. He told us he'd have a very hard time sourcing us a stone that was what we wanted for the amount we wanted to spend, but that we could probably find one online ourselves. He didn't try to talk down to us, or even offer any stones that weren't ideal cut, since we gave that as our first requirement. Then we talked about the setting, he showed us some of the lines he carries. He said that while he might not be able to pricematch if we found the same thing elsewhere, he'd try to be competitive. He also told us we might save money on the setting if we get a stone that's close to a half or whole number in diameter. I. E. 7mm, 7.5mm, etc.

We found the stone online, and took it in to get it mounted. As we walked in I said "We found a stone!!". My now-husband pulled out the box and showed him, he said "Wow, did you ever!! What did you pay for this?". We told him, he said "You did good, I couldn't have gotten it wholesale for that".

A couple months later we went back to him with a setting from online, and a stone I already had, and asked him would he size and mount it. His response was "Sure, what size do you need? That's a nice stone too!".
 

caf

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Nov 26, 2013
Messages
1,606
I went into my jeweler/bench recently to have some repairs done. While there he always tells me to give him my studs and any other jewelry to inspect and clean. I was wearing my new CBI 5 stone. He took a look at it without loupe first and said “nice!l. Then inspecting through his magnifiers, he said “well those are pretty ideal diamonds.” He said the ring was gorgeous. Then checked the ring again and said everything was good with prongs. He and the sales assistant said you could see my CBI diamonds across the store. He was professional, courteous and gracious about someone else’s product. He always is. And his bench is superb.
 

lucida818

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
646
Pieces I purchased from my favorite jeweler always get free cleaning, resizing & refurbishment. Sad to say his new pieces get much bigger & one can rarely find things that cost below 10k :( Btw, we have established a really good rapport eg. I can walk away with anything anytime w/o payment, he would say “best not to return it, just transfer payment if you like”
Ever brought home a 3ct DVVS heart solitaire & a 8ct unheat Burmese sapphire :tongue:
 

Daisys and Diamonds

Super_Ideal_Rock
Joined
Apr 30, 2019
Messages
22,496
I was very nervous finding a jewler to size and value mum's rings- Gary read all these scary overseas stories on line
i walked in there and he took one look at mum's 80's emerald ring and got all excitted and called the office lady over to look
turned out he recognized the work of a jewler he had trained with back in the day when mall jewlers sold NZ made crafted product
So i felt safe after that
And i had him make me my first ever commissioned piece - a pearl and tourquoise piece - he said he didn't work much with tourquoise but it turned out perfect
 

Bron357

Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Jan 22, 2014
Messages
6,532
This opal pendant.
Its huge and I bought the opal unset before going off to see my jeweller to have it set In a pendant.
the sides arent perfectly even width wise.
And I wanted it reversible because there’s a different pattern on the other side!
wanting to keep the cost down, I requested rim set in 9ct yellow gold. Opal is soft and brittle, rim set required time and patience.
the phone calls then started...
Not enough malleability in 9ct so we upped to 14kt. Still no joy so we upped to 18kt, still rather tricky so we went up to 22kt. Success. But the bale section is 9ct because I wear it on a gold plated 925 silver wire choker. If it was 22kt it would wear away in mere months due to the weight of the pendant being on 925 silver.
jeweller asked me not to bring him anymore Opals to set.
ever.
thanks but no thanks. 18CD22B3-78D1-4F2F-A802-D4998CE09C52.jpeg 8CFE9252-2DA3-4C08-8A01-6ECF101F7D60.jpeg
 

icy_jade

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 1, 2009
Messages
6,131
Pieces I purchased from my favorite jeweler always get free cleaning, resizing & refurbishment. Sad to say his new pieces get much bigger & one can rarely find things that cost below 10k :( Btw, we have established a really good rapport eg. I can walk away with anything anytime w/o payment, he would say “best not to return it, just transfer payment if you like”
Ever brought home a 3ct DVVS heart solitaire & a 8ct unheat Burmese sapphire :tongue:

@lucida818 which jeweller is that?
 

kenny

Super_Ideal_Rock
Premium
Joined
Apr 30, 2005
Messages
33,217
Uhmmmmm.
Uhhhhh.


Screen Shot 2020-12-19 at 11.40.53 PM.png
 

icy_jade

Ideal_Rock
Joined
May 1, 2009
Messages
6,131
I was referred to my local jeweller by a regular pearl vendor when I asked for a good CS jeweller. Since then, I’ve referred so many people to him as I really like him e.g.
- he’s honest and tells me about potential problems like when I was considering an emerald cab he kept reminding me that emeralds are occasionally wear only and may crack etc (which jeweller tries to scare off potential sales right)...
- educating about quality factors for different type of stones even when I clearly won’t buy eg what’s trade desired for chrysoberyl cats eye
- rectifying a setting when the outcome differed from initial design


Not in Singapore sadly.
In Bangkok, I used to visit the city every other month.

Ok. When we can travel again and I plan a vacation to BKK you let me know who ok? Can you show us the 8 ct sapphire?
 

lucida818

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Sep 5, 2015
Messages
646
@icy_jade, I can’t wait to visit Bkk as I really miss its food :lickout:
I should have specified that I didn’t buy that 3ct heart & the 8ct sapphire had been sold to an Indonesian relative who was head over toe for it. It might not be of your liking as it’s dark but strangely I like its mysterious looking type of blue :)
 

MeowMeow

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Nov 27, 2009
Messages
1,645
I have a couple of jewellers around here i like to use. One of them is a 45 minute drive away but it's worth it. We found them while trying to buy my engagement ring. We walked in and happened to find the owners daughter working. She and I clicked so I go through her for our projects. Her attention to detail is good and they don't care what I bring them. They are happy to set unmentionables and even settings from outside if I choose. I had to go through several stores to find them so I am not letting them go. Even if they don't do perfect PS prongs. The jewellery is sturdy and survives my clumsiness and that is super important for me.

I use one other store closer to me when we just cannot reach our preferred store. It's also family run. I have to kind of avoid the sales clerks they hire and go through the son because the clerk says silly stuff sometimes but they also do a decent job. I am considering giving them a smaller test project to work on at some point
 

Vanilla Bling

Brilliant_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 20, 2017
Messages
601
I live in a very small rural community and the one and only Jeweler here is fantastic ! I could drive either way 25 minutes to Nashville or Clarksville Tn but the small hometown Jeweler is perfect for me , they will set any outside stones and happy to do it they have never told me no about anything I request , just really good people . They did my recent engagement ring reset and told me how beautiful they thought my stone was and I will use them again soon for another small project I’m thinking about doing and have not one worry that they can’t handle it .
 
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