Starting your own jewelry repair shop? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. By the end of this blog you’ll get to know the most common challenges when repairing jewelry and how to get around them.
Jewelry is a major part of personal lifestyle. It represents who you are and what you believe in. Simply put, it is pretty dear to the owner. And mostly expensive too.
Now, keeping in mind the cost factor and the sentimental values, pieces of jewelry are worn as the occasion demands. With repetitive usage, wearers will start noticing some weathering. This is obvious because metals also break down with time.
Jewelry owners know that their pieces require maintenance. This can range from weekly cloth cleaning to annual polishing. Regardless of your customer’s experience with taking care of their jewelry, they’ll eventually run into nuisances — some you’ll be familiar with, while others will take you by surprise.
These can include minor adjustments or major restorations like losing gemstones or broken chains. Basically jewelry eventually needs either refurbishing or repairing.
Using the right modern tech, you can restore any jewelry item into its former glory. Use a jewelry repair shop software to automate your operations so you can focus on growing your business.
We’ve compiled a list of the most common challenges below. You’ll be facing many, if not all, of these issues when repairing jewelry.
Ring Resizing & Worn-out Metal
Metal jewelry can get worn down with frequent usage. It is most commonly witnessed in wedding and engagement rings. These are usually worn constantly, and due to the friction between the ring and the wearer’s skin, it can start to wear it down.
Ideally, you can easily fix this issue using your expertise, but your customers need to know that you are confident with your skill. Reflect this by using a jewelry repair shop software and let the digitization of your workplace begin.
As humans, this is a relatable fact, our fingers either shrink or expand due to changes in the surrounding temperatures or the fact that we’re just getting old.
You’ll witness customers walking into your store and complaining about their ring getting either too loose or too tight.
Easily lock these walk-ins with your POS software and get yourself recurring customers for monthly or annual maintenance.
Broken & Loose Prongs
Another issue you’d lock horns with most is loose or broken prongs. Primarily, these are the brackets that hold precious gems in place. With continuous wear, these prongs can get weak and can lead to lost gems.
Make sure that the customers that walk into your jewelry repair shop with this issue are totally taken care of. Any shoddy work here can lead to major losses, especially if the gem is a diamond or falls in the same pricing range.
Damaged Chains & Broken Links
Chains and links are the most commonly used items when jewelers make their masterpieces. And you’ll be repairing a lot of them! This is true in many cases. However, by using a jewelry repair shop software, you can easily go about this particular repair job.
Make sure that your POS system is integrated with the latest technology that helps your operations run smoothly.
You’ll encounter several customers with weak or broken links in their bracelets or necklaces. We know that this is not a time consuming or difficult repair task. But we also know that it is a pretty sensitive issue and needs to be fixed quickly.
Easily send out marketing messages, informing customers the importance of this particular repair and that you’re available to tend to their jewelry woes.
Missing & Lost Stones
Intricately designed masterpieces have a beautiful blend of metal and gems. These stones/gems are accountable for half of the mesmerizing effect it’ll have on any set of eyes that fall on it.
One problem with such designs is that wearers often don’t realize a stone’s missing. Unless there are only a few gems in an article. As humans, we have a tendency to overlook the simple things and at times this also happens with jewelry owners.
The problem that falls within the laps of a jeweler is that they’ve to replace the lost stone with one that is the same as before. Or at least somewhere near it.
Expensive stones are not all rare to find. The rare ones are way too hard to find and when you do, they’re way expensive! The easier way around this is very simple.
Find a gems dealer/vendor nearby and maintain a good business connection for this very reason. They’ll source you rare gems for somewhat reasonable prices if you already have a business relationship going.
However, in case the stone to be replaced is not that precious, you can easily help your upset customer with finding the missing item from their favorite piece of jewelry. Such gems are fairly easy to find and replace.
Regardless of the matter, don’t ever hesitate to take on a client. These rare restorations are pretty expensive and you’ll save a few more bucks with these.
Bent Rings
Rough and tough usage of rings can deform their original shape. You can see dents and scratches that take away the ring’s original beauty. At times you can notice that a ring has deformed into an oval-like shape. It usually happens over time gripping things. Like a steering wheel, a door’s handles, grocery bags etc.
It entirely depends on the metal used to make that ring. Resizing or rounding out a ring is pretty easy for any jewelry repair shop, but what makes it magical in your store is that you care!
Make sure that you let your customers know about the best metal for their jewelry to match their lifestyle activities.
Ideally, jewelers use wider and thicker metal rings when dealing with such clients so that their jewelry can take on more pressure before deforming.
Get yourself a POS software and send out estimates and quotes, with online payments to make sure you have money raking in.
All of us have jewelry items that we love to wear. Be it custom-made or off-the-shelf pieces, jewelry problems are easy to solve, and that is exactly what your repair shop needs to reflect.