Good jeweler?

[TheTravellers]

Need to find a good jeweler, both tries recently have met with resounding failure, anybody have any recommendations?

Here's the backstory - had a wedding band of about 7 grams of 14k gold, just standard round and florentined, wife had bought a square thin band at the Arts Fest a couple of years ago (smooth on 2 sides, hammered on the other 2), thought mine might be cool remade into something similar/identical.

Took my ring to Field's in Edmond, they were supposed to call to see wife's ring before they made the wax mold so they'd know how to make it, they didn't, made the mold anyway, wasn't anywhere close, so we left her ring so they could do it right this time, they made it correctly, but didn't size it right, so they sized it up, but too much. Decided I had dealt with them enough (it took 3 months from start to finish, ridiculous) and just took it and left, intending to try BC Clark in Northpark because my wife has had some good work done at the downtown BC Clark.

Took the ring into BC Clark, jeweler was on vacation, but the woman behind the repair desk said she could write down "size down 1/8 size" and that should work. Went in to get it yesterday, she pulled it out and it had been made into a round ring! WTF?!?!?!? I told her they had destroyed the ring, they need to make it right again, she got the jeweler. Here's where it turned stupid - he was basically a total a**hole, told me he couldn't size square rings because of their shape, there are gaps when they put it onto the ring sizer (that foot-long tapered piece of metal), I told him that I'm well aware of that, I'm a math major, a circle fits inside the square and you just size it like a normal ring, you put it on, note how far down it goes, then make it 1/8 size smaller, however you have to do that. He said he thought he was doing me a favor (not sure how he thought that), and that it had been sized up on opposite sides of the ring, there are cuts in it and it could snap in half (Um, yeah, I regularly subject my wedding ring to enough stress that it'll just snap in half), I told him that's why I got the ring back from Field's and wouldn't let them do any more work on it, he was still a complete dick, but said he'd make it square again (gee, thanks, for DOING WHAT I ASKED YOU TO DO!). And yes, I am going to let BC Clark mgmt/owners know about this, he was way out of line, but I am going to do it after I get my ring, whether or not it's correctly sized.

Just absolutely boggles the mind that I brought a square ring in and asked them to resize it and they made it round, it's like taking a car into a paint shop and asking for blue, but they paint it green because they thought they were doing me a favor.

Wife is still using the downtown BC Clark because they haven't screwed her over yet, but they're not real convenient for me. So, anybody know of a jeweler that can handle square rings or anything just slightly outside the box in jewelry design/repair?

[tpg4635]

Lewis Jewelers in Moore, heard great things but have never dealt with them personally, but have many friends who have. They had nothing but good things to say, including the best customer service they've ever received. Best of luck!

[oklip955]

There is a new jeweler in Edmond located in the shopping center at 33rd and Broadway on the north east corner. I had some minor work done there on my watch. They seemed to be good but not shure as far as something along the lines of your needed work. Just thought you might want to look into them.

[Mr. Cotter]

Mitchener and Ferrand, on May, made a beautiful, custom right hand ring for my wife. She had a set of old family stones, but would never wear the setting they were in. We spent about an hour with the jeweler, discussing options and showing pictures my wife had brought in. The finished product is a wonderful, truly custom design of extremely high craftsmanship. I would imagine fixing your ring would be something they could handle.

[betts]

Valerie Naifeh.

[UrbanNorman]

I second Valerie Naifeh. She takes a lot of pride in her work and when you add her talent, I think she's unmatched in the metro (although in referencing Mitchener above...I've heard good things about them too). No vested interest in the recommendation other than my wife's engagement ring that I see every day.

[TheTravellers]

Thanks for the replies, not sure I want to give the Naifeh liquor mafia any more of my money , so might try Mitchener-Farrand. Hopefully BC Clark will make it right and this 3 month ordeal will be over, but I have no idea what I'm going to get back from them.

[turnpup]

I, too, had several bad experiences (albeit not as bad as yours) with repair people at the Northpark B.C. Clark store. The downtown store, however, has been wonderful. Excellent customer service, timely (and correct) repairs, etc. They even handled a problem I was having with my insurance company over the policy covering my wedding ring. So maybe it's just Northpark?

[sooner88]

It was with a watch, but I have had great customer service with Naifeh.

[FighttheGoodFight]

I, too, had several bad experiences (albeit not as bad as yours) with repair people at the Northpark B.C. Clark store. The downtown store, however, has been wonderful. Excellent customer service, timely (and correct) repairs, etc. They even handled a problem I was having with my insurance company over the policy covering my wedding ring. So maybe it's just Northpark?

Bought my wife's wedding ring and BC Clarks and they were excellent. I think it is just who you deal with.

[TheTravellers]

Bought my wife's wedding ring and BC Clarks and they were excellent. I think it is just who you deal with.

The Northpark store apparently only has one jeweler, who was on vacation when I first went in, and dealt with later when I tried to pick my ring up (hindsight shows me that I need to deal directly with the jeweler, not just someone writing stuff down to tell the jeweler, from now on for stuff like this). I think Robert Clark is the, or maybe one of the, jewelers for the downtown store, and my wife has had nothing but good to say about him and the downtown store. Northpark salespeople and repairwoman were great, the jeweler was just an a**, but unfortunately, he's the jeweler, so he's the only one there that does things like I needed done. Downtown just isn't nearly as convenient for me as Northpark, which is why I gave them a shot, based on how good their downtown service is.

[jdcf]

Also sorry to hear about service at Field's. We now use B C Clark at Penn Square.

[TheTravellers]

Also sorry to hear about service at Field's. We now use B C Clark at Penn Square.

I've heard from a few folks that Field's has gone downhill since the dad lets the son do everything. Ring was originally made back there 20 years ago, didn't know they had slid until this debacle, don't use jewelers much, as you can see.

[CS_Mike]

I would definitely recommend Lewis Jewelers. In addition to purchasing our engagement and wedding rings there, we've also had them do custom work for us. My wife inherited a ring from her mother that was shaped like a flower and had a diamond in each petal. She loved the ring except that it was yellow gold, and she absolutely hates yellow gold. Lewis Jewelers was able to create an identical ring in white gold and transfer the diamonds over. My wife was very pleased with the work that they did.

[Debzkidz]

I had my wedding rings completely rebuilt by B C Clarks in Penn Square after having them basically destroyed by a jeweler in Edmond, who shall remain nameless, after taking them in to have a loose prong repaired. Clarks did a wonderful job. My rings look the same but they actually changed the way they connect together. My wedding band is actually a sleeve that fits over and around the engagement ring and the original design allowed them to rub together and wear down the mount of the center stone. Clarks was able to keep the look of the original setting while actually changing them enough to stop the wear. They did a beautiful job.

The jeweler in Edmond i had originally taken them to to correct the worn prong decided to do me a favor and welded the bands together after I specially told him I did not want it done. I was furious when I went to pick up the rings and saw what he had done. He told me taking them apart would ruin the integrity of the bands. Made him do it anyway. He didn't cut them apart evenly and left the wedding band about as thin as a piece of wire. Sure enough a short time after the wedding band just snapped in half!

[TheTravellers]

OK, so I guess it appears that BC Clark satisfaction depends on the location, thanks for the info. I believe I'll take mine in to Mitchener-Farrand in a week or so (got it back on Saturday, don't really want to deal with it again this soon), and speak directly to the person that is going to be doing the actual work on the ring. WTF is it with "jewelers" (in quotes because the guy that f-ed up my ring isn't a jeweler, he's a "jewelry craftsman") just taking it upon themselves to do things that the customers don't want....

Don't know why you want a business that screwed you over badly to remain nameless, I always name names when justified, let the world know how bad they are, but to each his/her own. ;-)

[Bellaboo]

OK, so I guess it appears that BC Clark satisfaction depends on the location, thanks for the info. I believe I'll take mine in to Mitchener-Farrand in a week or so (got it back on Saturday, don't really want to deal with it again this soon), and speak directly to the person that is going to be doing the actual work on the ring. WTF is it with "jewelers" (in quotes because the guy that f-ed up my ring isn't a jeweler, he's a "jewelry craftsman") just taking it upon themselves to do things that the customers don't want....

Don't know why you want a business that screwed you over badly to remain nameless, I always name names when justified, let the world know how bad they are, but to each his/her own. ;-)

I bought my wife's ring at Samuel Gordons many years ago, they are first class. Any type of work we've had done on anything else has been Mitchener Ferrand and we've been pleased.

[TheTravellers]

Mitchener-Farrand is so much more knowledgeable and professional than either Field's or BC Clark in Northpark, I think we have a winner, thanks to everyone who recommended them! Took it in today, spoke to the guy that will be doing the repairs, and another girl that was in there working, said she was a student (gemology, jewelry, I guess), both got totally involved in the whole sordid story as well as what to do to fix it, quite enthusiastic. AJ (the repairer, don't know if he's an official jeweler or not) said "Let me get my square mandrel", I said "Wait, there is such a thing?", and there kind of is - it's a regular mandrel with a groove on one side so non-round rings can fit on it much better. Neither Field's or BC Clark in Northpark even brought out such a thing, so that's just one example of how much better Mitchener-Farrand is than those idiots...