07.11.09
What your jewelry repair technician won’t tell you.
How to take care of fine jewelry
People who work with their hands and people who sell often have vastly different approaches as to how they deal with people. By and large, people who work with their hands, aren’t as ‘people oriented’ as salespeople. There are those who sell and those who repair and make. Seldom do you see someone good at both.
Lately, I’ve been seeing and reading articles with titles like; “What your doctor won’t tell you.” All in all, people who work with people try not to say certain things to those they service. They strive to be politically correct and treat the customer as though they are always right.
The fact of the matter is that the customer isn’t always right (and everyone out there who has ever worked retail or any kind of customer service is nodding their heads). And the fact is that what some don’t want to say and what some don’t want to hear, could make for better service and communication between servers and “servee” in the long run. One can blame the salesperson, the receptionist, the repair person, and the doctor, whomever all they want, but unless there is some personal responsibility, things typically don’t change for the better, regardless of what product or service we are talking about. What we find is that people by and large aren’t willing to tell someone how they might extend the life of their product simply because what they tell them might offend them or make them not want to buy the product or service. By not telling them they’ve been doing something wrong regarding a product, then the consumer loses, the product is short lived, and the salesperson or service technician might be thought to be to blame for the short lived product.
After almost 30 years of working to make jewelry, repairing jewelry and restoring jewelry, there’s allot I’ve seen and learned about it. There’s also allot I’ve seen and learned about people. If I am to be completely honest, the more I’m around people, the more I like my cats.
Cricket on the arm of the chair
As I’ve read these articles, I decided that blogging could be a good outlet to share some of what I’ve learned and thought that I could start with the following topic.
What a jewelry repair technician doesn’t like to hear
1. “I never take it off.”
Firstly, anything worn next to the skin needs to be removed and cleaned daily. Seriously, is there anything else that you wear everyday and don’t clean before wearing again (and if so, don’t tell me, I don’t want to know)? According to Wiki Answers, our skin sheds 40-50 thousands cells per day. Any open areas under a ring, earrings, or pendant are places for skin, soap film, etc., to find a home. It will eventually clog up the “airlines” and “light lines” so that the entire back is filled with soap, skin, lotions, cosmetics or what have you. Any stones will appear cloudy and the metal gets a film over it and builds up in the crevices. This makes your jewelry appear dull and dirty.
Jewelry has to be almost surgically clean before it can be repaired. If it is not cleaned properly and any heat is used to repair it, dirt will burn under stones and leave marks on the metal that looks like its been thrown into in a camp fire pit full of ashes and soot. While we have powerful cleaners that can usually shake the dirt out in minutes, we prefer to take longer than “while you wait” simply because it’s safer for YOUR jewelry that we do. We really would like to not have your jewelry for very long, especially after you tell us about how all jewelers steal and pull out diamonds and replace them. Not once in my 30 years have I ever seen a craftsperson that I’ve worked with do what allot of consumers seem to think is common practice (the stealing of customers diamonds). I have however, been accused of switching diamonds after cleaning out 2 grams (you bet I weighed it because I was curious as to just HOW MUCH “yuck” could one pack under a stone that size) of “ook” from underneath a stone. The stone DID look completely different and the ring shone with its, now, high polish and the woman walked away, never to come back again and convinced that I had taken her diamond and replaced it with something that she described as “not as nice as hers.” I’m not sure of what she had in her memory as to what it looked like to her (because you couldn’t even tell what color or clarity the poorly cut, almost industrial grade marquise was to begin with and yep, they are called diamonds, but some of them should have been left as drill bit tips….but it was big and certainly, she thought, anyone would want to steal it). I had a pile of sludge at the bottom of my cleaner and dried “ook” that I picked out from under the stone that said that her ring was lighter and looked better than when she’d brought it in. I’ve often wondered if she felt better about it once she’d ‘gunked’ it back up.
One of the worst pieces I’ve ever had to work on, I had to clean every day for 5 days before I could work on it. There was so much “gook” fossilized in the back of it, that it thought it was bigger than I was (and I wasn’t really arguing with it, but I did stand back three feet to throw more soap into the cleaner periodically) and that it had a right to be there.
Secondly, I don’t know of a piece of jewelry that is made to stand up to that kind of wear (I never take it off) with the exception of a plain wedding band. Even those wear out and/or wear through.
Just because you take your wedding ring off to clean it or do to yard work or heavy construction, doesn’t mean that you’re not married. Being married is a state of mind and the jewelry is just a symbol of the permanence of that love and commitment. Wearing a keepsake every day, under all kinds of conditions probably means that you will need a new keepsake from time to time. Don’t “shoot” the jeweler when they tell you that gold, silver and platinum are all precious metals that are very soft and can bend, wear and break. We didn’t make those rules, we just try to abide by them. And no, we really can’t, after something has been completely worn down, chewed up by the garbage disposal, run over by a car because you and your boyfriend had a fight in the parking lot and you threw it at him, but found it, figure out what it used to look like and restore it to like new condition while you wait because you don’t want to leave it. Its times like those that I have to go to a mirror and see if I have a magician’s cape and hat on.
Just when I think I’ve seen it all, someone comes along with something they want made or a repair they want done and I’m learning all over again. Many thanks to the customers over the years and until next blog time, use Windex and a soft toothbrush, rinse in warm water and leave them to dry on a soft towel until you wear them again. Have your pieces cleaned and checked (many offer this service at no charge!) at least once every 6 months to keep stones tight and for the longevity of your piece. They do need regular maintenance with wear just like your house and your car.
