Jewelry Repair in Virginia Beach | How Long & How Much
How long it takes to size your Engagement ring or wedding band depends on a number of factors. Let’s start by saying yes it can be sized, at least 99 percent of wedding rings can. As for how quickly it can be sized here are the factors involved.
Quick note: You have stumbled into the best jewelry store in Virginia Beach. Our Professional jeweler can handle any ring sizing or jewelry repair you might have. We perform all work in-house, fast and for less. Now let’s look at the resizing process.
Choosing a Jewelry Store with a Skilled Jeweler
How long it takes to size the ring matters but maybe picking the right place is just as if not more important. Here are a couple things to consider when selecting a Jewelry Store. Remember you have the small local jeweler and the chain jewelry stores to choose from. What you’ll find at the chain store is nearly all the time the work is performed by an offsite jeweler or goldsmith. They use central locations in larger cities to house a large group of goldsmiths. The process goes something like this. You stop in and they give you a price. Once you have agreed they take your ring and seal it in an envelope and place it with others waiting to be shipped to their Jewelry repair location. By the time they receive it you can figure 3 or 4 days have gone by. Now the piece of jewelry goes to a bench to be worked on. Figure a few days and then its finished. Now it goes back to shipping and within a few days it is shipped. Now it arrives back at the store you dropped it off to about 10 to 12 days later. You now receive a call to pick it up. I hear from customers all the time it’s a 2 to 3 week process.
I would suggest to you this is a wonderful opportunity to build a relationship with a small local jeweler who also has expert jewelers and a skilled jeweler behind the bench. Now how do you figure out if your local jeweler has all this? I would suggest looking for these three criteria:
1. Has the jewelry store been around a long time and do they spend a lot on advertising and their store in general. Here in VA Beach we have some fine jewelers like Hilltop Pawn Shop. I know we are a pawn shop but we started in business with Greenbrier Pawn 28 years ago and as you know if you live here Everyone knows Glenda Craddock Jewelry Stores because you hear it on TV probably every day.
2. Check them out on Google. Look at the reviews for the store. This is really the simplest way.
3. When you visit the store have a look around first. Is the store set up so you can see the goldsmiths. If a store advertises custom ring design I bet they have displays out for it. If they advertise colored gemstones they will have displays for that. So if they advertise jewelry repair I would hope you can see it being done, at least from a distance or over the counter. If it’s off hidden in the back I would suspect they are shipping it off to another repair house. Here at Hilltop and greenbrier Pawn we actually do work for some of those other stores. this is how I know for sure it’ being sent out. If you can see the goldsmith your most likely in good hands.
So now we have an idea of the jewelry store we want to use. But what you’ll find is the wait time to start the work will naturally be longer at the better option of store. Funny how that works, but in reality you would rather wait for the busy store then the store that can do it right now. In our case we have a bench person in both stores and an assistant that floats to help keep the process on pace.
Now let’s look at the factors that effect how long it takes the goldsmith to actually perform the work.
Engagement Ring Design
Right off the bat we can start with what makes something hard or close to impossible to resize. Jewelry like eternity bands. A band that has stones all the way around it was likely purchased to be a specific size. So sizing eternity rings is a time consuming task to get it to the right size and to make it look as if it’s never been sized. To complicate this we need to consider the type of metal. Platinum rings, by the very nature of Platinum, are more difficult to size simply because quality platinum is so hard. Add that to and eternity band or rings of intricate designs and you compound the issue adding to the time allowance. Often people thing the type of gold makes a difference in the time involved. It doesn’t really. Rose gold rings just require using rose gold sizing stock or white gold or green gold or 10k, 14k, or 18k yellow and so on. The one thing about white gold that does add to the cost and a bit more time is Rhodium. White gold is rhodium plated after the repair work is finished to make it bright white. Just one more process adding to the time.
Outside of eternity styles and different metals we have the ring itself that can cause delays. A simple ring or straight forward simple band where the inside of the band is smooth and plain is easy for lack of a better word. The design of the ring can be a real issue. Channel settings that travel past the midpoint of the sides of the ring shank can create an issue of developing loose stones if they are pulled outward to resize up more than a couple sizes. This is all fixable but it takes time. If the shank of the ring is hollow or partly hollow then the same thing is an issue while sizing up or down. Often the jeweler will recommend you make the ring mor oval and not round to protect the integrity of the ring. You won’t feel the difference when you wear it.
Size of the wedding ring | Amount of resizing
When we look at other factors that affect ring fit and therefor time involved we need to look at the size of the ring to start with. Most ladies rings are cast in a size 6 and most men’s are size 10, of course type of ring plays a part in that casting size. So imagine if you are a ladies size 9 then the ring is going up 3 whole sizes. In a perfect world the perfect engagement ring would be a tiffany style yellow gold ring with a solid small ring shank that only needed to go up a half size. Rarely do we see the perfect world. The good news is whatever needs to be done can be done but every more complicated step adds to the time involved.
One more part to the sizing of the ring is also the size and shape of the finger. Turns out not everyone’s fingers are straight or shaped the same. If you have had your finger broken or have arthritis we have other solutions. We don’t recommend spring inserts but they are an option. There is an additional ring’s shank we can solder in place of the original ring shank that opens to allow the ring to pass over a large knuckle. Or we often solder two beads in the inside of the bottom of the shank. After a day you don’t feel them but they keep the ring from moving around.
How much does it cost to resize a ring
The cost to resize a ring varies depending on all the factors above. But here’s a basic list that will be added to the set cost per size up or down in the store. Meaning there is a starting point and then these are looked at closer.
· What precious metals are involved
· Finger size | How far up or down the ring goes
· Part or full eternity band
· Tension Rings are more
· Filagree work on antique rings
· Is there stone setting involved
· Additional materials needed
· Pave Rings require more time
· Intricate workmanship involved
All of these things add to the level of workmanship required and therefor the time and money involved.
Find a Professional Jeweler here at Hilltop Pawn
From engagement ring resizing, Stone setting to more complicated jewelry repair Hilltop Pawn Shop is ready to fix your broken jewelry or size those rings that shrunk. Please stop in and see the difference for yourself. Same Jewelry Half the Price. Just google Glenda Craddock Jewelry Stores.