Repairing Jewelry
Just as you can take your shoes to a shoe repair shop, and your clothes to a tailor for repairs, you can also take your jewelry to a local jeweler for repairs and adjustments.
Adjustments may be as simple as replacing a watch battery, or resizing a ring. A watch battery should be able to be replaced on the spot, in about five minutes, for as low as around five dollars. When having a ring resized, the jeweler will have a set of metal rings with which to measure your finger. The jeweler will explain to you that you need to take into account the fluctuations in the size of your finger with changes in outside temperature. To be resized, the ring will have to be left with the jeweler for several days.
Most local jewelers should be able to do repairs on their premises. When the jeweler returns your jewelry to you, be sure to inspect it yourself before leaving the shop. I once had some jewelry cleaned at a shop west of Boston, and when the jeweler passed my gold cross back to me, the diamond chip in the center was missing. It had fallen out in the cleaning process, and he was able to retrieve it and cement it back in for me.
Beware of jewelers who have to send out your repairs, or who cannot even replace a watch battery for you on the premises. I went to one such shop, and when they told me they would have to send out my watch for a battery, and that I would not get it back for a week, I left and took my watch with me! I later heard from a co-worker that this jeweler had once lost a gold chain belonging to my co-worker's son, when it was out on such a repair. Not only that, but they tried to then pass off a different chain as the one that had been lost! That day, I took my watch to Flaherty Jewelers on Main Street in Wilmington, where they replaced the battery in about five minutes while I waited.
You may be surprised by what your local jeweler can do for you. I once took a tennis bracelet in to Flaherty's for a repair. The jeweler advised me that the bracelet was actually too big for me, and that he could take out some links. He even said that he could then take the extra links and make earrings or a pendant for me out of them.
Most jewelers will also clean and inspect your jewelry at no charge, while you wait. You should have this done on a regular basis, as you will be alerted to loose settings or missing stones. Correcting a loose setting can save you from needing to replace a diamond or other stone. Having your jewelry professionally cleaned will make it sparkle and shine, looking almost like new!