People go nuts when they bring in a Ring that needs to be Retipped, only to find out that it's going to take
2 Weeks to Fix! Their initial response is
"Are you Crazy?" They can't believe that it actually takes Weeks to simply retip a couple of Gold Prongs!
Well, there are a lot of reasons why Jewelry Repairs take so long. One of the biggest reasons is that a lot of Jewelers don't have an on-site Repair Shop! A lot of Jewelry Stores (Especially most of them in the Mall) have to ship them out to have the work done. That process can be a long and tedious one for simple, quick solder jobs. (Some Stores even send their Repairs [a.k.a. your expensive Diamond Ring] out of State and across Country to get fixed!)
Normally if you want quicker turn around times, I'd advise going to an Independent Jeweler instead. Most Independent Jewelry Stores have awesome Jewelers (And a few crappy ones!) that work on the premises and can fix broken Chains and Loose Diamonds and simple Repairs in a timely manner. Sometimes while you wait, but generally within a Day or two!
It all depends on the job and the time of Year of course. Christmas time is the worst time of year to get any work done. During Christmas, the Jewelers are rushed to get out those precious gifts in time. So skip the Month of December and bring your normal repairs in after the New Year!
So you go to an Independent Jeweler and they still tell you it'll take 2 weeks for the repair! WHY? While simple jobs can be done quickly and painlessly, harder jobs and intricate jobs can take longer.
The Jeweler may have to order in parts and findings. Things like New Heads, Shanks, Solder, Gemstones, Rhodium Plating, you name it. Ordering things like this can take a couple of Days just to get the goods in. (And that's if they aren't back-ordered!)
And then, when all the pieces and parts do come in, the job gets sent to the Shop. What happens then? It gets filed! Filed by due date along with all the other awaiting jobs. That's right! First in, first out. Chances are good there are dozens and even hundreds of jobs before yours. It gets put in an assembly line and worked on when the time is due.
There's really not much that can help speed this process up either. Obviously if it's an emergency (The Wedding is Saturday!) or if it's a really expensive Ring (Like $8,000) then maybe this will give you a little bit of advancement on the time it takes. (Funny how money talks!)
If you know the Owner, are good friends or family of the Salesperson, or just pay double the price for a rush job, that may also help!
So when do the Jewelers actually touch your job? You're going to love this one... Read on...
