Monday 10 July 2017

Jewellery Repair


 


Most of the large chain jewellery stores you will find in shopping malls today are simply retail stores. This is a far cry from 30 or 40 years ago, before shopping centres became widespread, and the ‘shops’ you visited on the main street were individual stores run by qualified jewellers.


Finding a real ‘bench jeweller’ isn’t that difficult and you will get personal service from the actual jeweller working on your jewellery. Being able to directly discuss your requirements with the jeweller who will be doing the hands on work is worth spending a few minutes to find a local jeweller. Recommendations from friends will help to find someone you can trust or contact the JAA for a list of jewellers local to you.


The charm bracelets that we supply our customers have the charms fitted here at the Chain Me Up in-house workshop. We also produce our own range of handmade bracelets and earrings, but for complex repairs or creating a new design entirely, we have our own jeweller on the Gold Coast. When our customers come to us with a request for something we don’t have or can’t do, we send them directly to our own jeweller. We don’t charge them or receive a commission for the referral.


Having jewellery repaired or valued has become a task that nearly all major stores send to an independent technician, rather than having a qualified in-store jeweller. The upside to this is that the technician will usually be used by many of the stores in that chain and will be both qualified and competent. They wouldn’t get repeat business otherwise and a large retail chain will feed them a considerable amount of work. The downside to leaving your jewellery repairs to a national chain store is that they will add a mark-up to any work they sub-contract out, costing you more.



Just about everyone has had their jewellery repaired at some point in time. Did you ever wonder what happens to your jewellery when you drop it off at the repair shop? Well today we’re filming from our jewellery repair and manufacturing facility right here at our Beecher road location in Flint.


To give you kind of a behind-the-scenes look as to what happened the multi-step process that every item goes through when it’s brought to our store for repair. Now this is where it all happens but this obviously isn’t where it starts. It all starts when our customer brings in their jewellery. We never take lightly the confidence bestowed upon us by our customers when they leave their valuable jewellery with us.


Whether the items have great actual value or just sentimental value, we go to great lengths to see that the items are given the care they deserve. When dropped off the article undergoes its first of four different inspection processes. Our associate inspects the items not only to verify the repair requested by our customers but also to ensure that there aren’t other pressing needs that can be dealt with while the item is in our possession.


After inspection is finished and all details of repairs explained to the customer, the repair is entered into our computer system detailing a description of the items and a description of the repairs to be done. A digital photograph of each item is also taken, from multiple angles if necessary, that will follow the item as it progresses through each process of the repair.


We then scan each envelope into our computer so that we know exactly where in the process each particular repair is at any particular time. If the item is a watch the job is handed off to our in-house watchmaker and founder and my father Bob Gaines.  Anything else is carried to our in-house jewellery repair facility.


Many jewellery stores have to shift their jewellery out to be repaired to a facility out of the city or sometimes out of state, but no frequent flyer miles for the jewellery left here at Gaines. Barring something very unusual this is as far as any of the jewellery goes.


After a thorough cleaning one of our Goldsmith’s does yet another inspection of their own before work on the article begins. We do a variety of bench work in our facility ranging from prong work to sizing to intricate design and actual jewellery creation. One thing we are proud of is the fact that we own one of the very few laser welding machines in Genesee County. This new technology allows us to work on a heat sensitive items in a manner that allows us a better repair and it’s safer for the article itself.


While the traditional method of joining gold is to use gold solder the laser welder allows us to actually melt the metal together. With the laser being so focused all this is done while holding the article in our bare hand it’s, truly remarkable.


Once the work is completed each piece endures a rigorous polishing cleaning and steaming process. It is after this process is complete that the true beauty of the article becomes evidence. Before releasing the item our Goldsmith’s do yet another inspection just to make sure the repair is correct and the stones are tight and it’s ready to go.


As a final check each job then goes through one final inspection done by myself or one of our associates, just to make sure everything is clean secure and ready to be worn by the customer. Once that is done the customer is notified that their item is ready. Well I hope you enjoyed our little how we do it repair video. Thanks for allowing us to give you a little behind-the-scenes looking to our repair shop and how things work. Remember if you like to be notified when we put out more new informative videos be sure and click the follow us links it’ll pop up here in just a minute and we’ll see you next time.



Jewellery Repair

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