Regular maintenance and jewelry repair keep jewelry looking good. It is crucial to take care of your jewelry so you can wear it for years to come. Jewelry in good condition is a pleasure to pass on as heirlooms.
Beyond maintaining the aesthetics of your piece, jewelry repair preserves its sentimental value. Furthermore, it also protects your investment by retaining its financial value. Damage can significantly reduce the value of your jewelry.
Lastly, repairing jewelry makes it last longer, thereby reducing the demand for new jewelry. This lowers the need for new materials to produce jewelry, thus protecting the environment.
Jewelry wear and tear is unavoidable. It is the most common damage to jewelry but often goes unnoticed. Overlooking jewelry repair may result in irreparable damage to your piece.
While wear and tear on your jewelry is something that comes naturally, here are a few tips on how to take care of your piece.
- Consider how to properly store your jewelry.
Have individual soft pouches for every piece. Storing your jewelry all together can cause tangling, scratching, and damage to its delicate components.
- Remove your jewelry before engaging in sports or household activities.
Wearing your jewelry while swimming, exercising, or doing household chores can damage your jewelry.
- Avoid sleeping with your jewelry on.
Take off your jewelry before sleeping to avoid scratching, loosening of stones, tangled chains, or the bending or breaking of some components. Sweating while asleep and your night creams can lead to tarnishing and discoloration.
- Avoid exposing your jewelry to harmful chemicals.
Harsh chemicals such as chlorine, household cleaners, and even lotions and perfumes can discolor or weaken your jewelry’s metals and stones.
- Avoid knocking your rings on hard surfaces.
The materials of your rings can scratch or chip with repeated impact on hard surfaces
- Care for your jewelry
Regularly inspect your jewelry for any signs of wear or damage such as loose stones or malfunctioning clasps. Also check for worn or bent prongs. Catching issues with your jewelry early can prevent further damage.
It can be tempting to do jewelry repair as a DIY project. You can, actually, but make sure to know the type of metal and stones in your item. Platinum is a harder metal than gold and silver. Conversely, emeralds are more prone to chipping than other stones. Thus, different metals and stones require varied levels of care during repair.
With that said, do you think you can handle jewelry repair on your own? You can, but it is best done by professionals to avoid further damage to your pieces.
Professional Jewelry Repair Service
- It is always wise to seek the help of a professional jewelry repair service.
- Take your jewelry to the professionals if it is made from delicate or rare materials, has filigree work, or has intricate settings that need specific care and specialized repair techniques.
- Only allow the professionals to deal with loose stones or stone replacement.
- Jewelry repair should only be done by experts on pieces with intricate designs that require expertise or specific tools.
- Only the professionals can do ring resizing, scratch removal, or repair severe dents.
- Issues about the structural integrity of your jewelry, such as cracks in links or metal bands, require professional repairs.
- Repairing your jewelry’s structure, such as broken prongs, which can cause your gemstone setting to loosen, requires expert hands.
- Broken chains, resizing, or reattaching components which involve welding and soldering should only be done by a jewelry repair service.
- Heirlooms, antique, or vintage jewelry may require specific techniques to repair in order to preserve their original condition.
- If your jewelry is still under warranty, repairing it yourself can void the warranty.
Jewelry repair done by an expert jeweler can breathe new life into your cherished pieces. However, not all jewelry repair services are created equal. You need to work with someone you trust and one who can do a good-quality job.
Pick a jewelry repair service with a good reputation, good communication skills, and, more importantly, certification from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA).
Why Ken Walker Jewelers?
Ken Walker Jewelers is the place to be when you need specialized jewelry repair. We are a family-owned jewelry store in Gig Harbor, Washington. We have been repairing jewelry since 1972, when we opened our original store (Weese Jewelers) in Auburn, Washington.
Are you ready to breathe new life into your jewelry? Ken Walker Jewelers is a full-jewelry repair service that can do a great job on:
- Gem polishing
- Scratch removal
- Chain and clasp repair
- Clasp replacement
- Stone replacement
- Other minor and major jewel repairs
Fill out this form and schedule a jewelry repair appointment. We will provide a free repair estimate while you check out our fine jewelry collections. It does not matter whether you bought your jewelry from our store or not; we do jewelry repair on any item brought to us!