07.15.09
What your jewelry repair technician won’t tell you
July 14, 2009
What your jewelry repair technician doesn’t like to hear.
3. “I just looked down and this is what had happened to my…”
This comment about a customer’s jewelry usually comes after I’ve made, repaired, or just inspected something and they are back for another visit. The worst one I ever saw was a wedding set that was completely flattened. The woman said “I was just sitting in church and I looked down and this is what had happened to my ring.” I wanted to ask her if she could really see her ring or was she, perhaps, sitting on it? I also wanted to ask her how in the world, with her rings flattened, did she actually have her finger in them and not have to have them cut off her finger or have surgery for a crushed finger. I never got to ask any of these questions as the sales person came along to offer her a drink of water and to assure her that everything would be alright, and that the “jeweler can probably be done with this in the next fifteen minutes for you” (and how could I arrange to THROTTLE THAT SALES GIRL??? for writing checks that she had no funds to cash from MY bank account?).
This customer had just been in the week before to have her wedding set cleaned and checked and it just so happens that I was the last one to touch it before this mishap. So, what this statement usually precedes, whether actually stated or just implied is “You were the last one to touch it and it doesn’t matter that I didn’t buy it from you and/or that you didn’t make it, or even if you just cleaned it and inspected it (surely I’d missed something like a self destruct button inside it), it is now ruined and I know that it is somehow your fault. “
Before I go off on my tangent and little rant about sales people, if you run across one that wants to truly educate you about what you are buying rather than just making you feel good about buying, you’ve got a good sales person. I have worked with them in the past and currently work with an outstanding bunch of salespeople. Good sales people that really want to know and understand what they are selling are worth their weight in gold both to the customers they service and to their colleagues.
I’d like to point out that I like sales people. I admire people that do things that I can’t do. I would prefer that sales people I work with be people that have a clue as to what they are actually talking about when it comes to repairs and how long it actually takes to do something. “Oh, we can completely take care of your ring in 5 minutes. I’ll take that back to the jeweler on my way out to lunch” (and they already have the “ticket” made up with their initials on it so that they get the credit and the commission and I get to explain to the customer why her ring needs to stay for two weeks for a major overhaul, how much that will cost them and the salesperson, by now, is no where to be seen). It never ceases to amaze me how quickly a sales person can take care of a customer’s problem for them, especially when they really don’t have to do anything other than take it from point ‘a’ to point ‘b’ and add up their commission in their head and possibly insist that this job should jump line ahead of all the rest that didn’t just come in. The jeweler, on the other hand, typically doesn’t get paid commission, so for them there is no advantage to doing things quicker than the time necessary to do a good job and to do it right. If they do a poor job they’re also the one responsible to do it over, not the salesperson who had to have it in 5 minutes or less (some sales people, not the customer, are in a hurry because they know that if you have more time to think it over that you might not want to buy what they just sold you and they havne’t gotten your moeny yet).
There are those that don’t know what they are selling or doing (“oh, you’re active, play tennis and lift weights, let me show you this wonderful, dainty, filigree ring for your engagement ring to wear every day for all those activities”) but they still believe that it is their job to make you feel good about your purchase, your repair, etc., and are very good at doing just that. What allot of companies teach as selling ‘technique’ is that the customer must buy and must feel good about buying and that while the rest of the information about the product they sell needs to be learned, that is secondary to selling. Sales and numbers (and don’t get me wrong, I understand that this is the reason for business and how businesses stay open to do business) are the only things that are important and yes, the customer. So, in the effort to sell, jewelry companies nurture and promote the idea of no responsibility on the part of the purchaser.
Now, let me ask you something. When you’ve bought cars in the past, have you ever had a salesperson tell you that your vehicle never needed its’ oil changed? You need a car to get back and forth to work and jewelry is more of a non necessary purchase. It also seems to be common knowlegde and common sense that cars need maintenance. So, it would seem that reminding or informing the customer of any personal responsibility on a jewelry purchase that they don’t really need isn’t really a good sales technique.
While nurturing no sense of responsibility and only pointing out the emotional sentiment that it might represent, or what it will mean to your wife if you buy it for her, etc., this might make the customer feel good when they make the purchase and they will be more likely to make the purchase. BUT, the first or second time that something goes wrong with their purchase because they weren’t informed about any of the fragile aspects, or the “need to clean and care” duties of their piece, they can become quickly disillusioned. By now, they’ve been taught by the salesperson that they have no responsibility regarding the piece, so they want to know what went wrong, can they get their money back or can they get another one just like it now that this one is ruined? The sales person might even go so far as to remind the customer about the maintenance plan that they tried to sell them when they made the purchase that would ‘cover’ such a mishap. They probably will actually sell the maintenance package to that customer, rather than inform them of these qualities because they must make their quota this month for that service.
Having seen what the maintenance packages include, I don’t recommend them. If you were taught a little more about what to do and not to do while wearing the piece, and were willing to heed the advice to not wear it all the time for everything, you could preserve it with less maintenance and save yourself the fees. There is the customer that insists that they will not be taking off their jewelry, that they bought it to wear it every day and everywhere and they will want the maintenance package. This is who the maintenance package is really meant for.
Lets move on to the one kind of incident that I run into from time to time with a customer that actually CAN do something seemingly minor and have something major happen to their jewelry pieces. The information not to wear their jewelry in the pool, hot tubs, not to cook or to do any cleaning with cleaning products, generally doesn’t come with the purchase. No one really thinks about it. Metal is tough as nails and stones are hard, so there shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Chlorine and fluorine are used to refine precious metals and they can also be found in products used to prevent bacterial growth, fungus growth and such in pools and spas. What does that mean to someone that swims or uses the hot tub and doesn’t remove their jewelry? Well, these chemicals are used to remove alloys or “impurities” from precious metal so that the pure gold or silver can be extracted. Over a period of time, these chemicals in a pool or hot tub are breaking down your wedding ring and engagement ring that holds that precious diamond. I’ve had customers come in and say that: “I just looked down and my diamond was gone.” Indeed, the metal can become as brittle as to just fall away with the least little bump. I’ve seen a wedding band that just cracked into two pieces. Upon inspection under magnification, crystalline type fractures can be seen. After some questions, it’s deduced that they swim allot, have a hot tub, or they bleach their tennis shoes or something of this nature and they never take off their rings. Fourteen karat gold jewelry is made of 565 parts of pure gold and 435 parts alloy. The chemicals have removed or reacted with the alloy and left gaps in the crystalline structure in its place that became cracks and breaks that cannot be repaired. Once this type of contamination is set into motion, there is no undoing the issue it creates.
Pearls, mother of pearl, paua shell, and anything else that is organic such as this can be damaged or dissolved with vinegar. Pearls, and similar ‘gems,’ are made mostly of calcium carbonate, which reacts and will dissolve in acid. Vinegar contains acetic acid. So to make a salad with vinegar in the dressing and tossing with clean hands may result in a dull and lusterless pearl ring. Acids found in grout cleaner to make that bathroom sparkle, can completely destroy any organic materials, such as pearls in jewelry. Lapis and turquoise can also be damaged with acids. Some sterling silver cleaners contain acids that can be used on sterling alone, but never on gemstones. AND if the jewelry is left to soak in it, the acids can leach out any alloys (sterling silver is only 925 parts pure out of a 1000, the rest is alloy), leaving only the precious metal behind and will give you what is appropriately called an “acid etch” finish. Soapy water and water with baking soda can help to neutralize the acid after cleaning.
At this point we can say that we’ve all had a chemistry lesson for today. So, until we blog again, have your pieces inspected at least once every six months, clean them with liquid soap, soft toothbrush and warm water. Rinse them and leave them to dry on a soft towel until you wear them again.
