Choosing a high-quality jewelry store
There are many different types of jewelry stores. In big cities you get flagship designer stores with just one designer’s work: often very different but it doesn’t offer much else besides. You also, of course, have the national and international chains: at one end, of course, there is Tiffany and Co and Birks but there are also stores that have sales assistants with little knowledge about what they are selling; any extra services are charged for at a big profit and may involve sending items off somewhere to have work done on them. You also though have local jewelers of varying sizes offering a much better knowledge and a much bigger range of services. It is true that even local independent jewelers may simply sell other people’s work rather than make pieces themselves but they do tend to have much better knowledge and will usually have at least one qualified jeweler. Normally with a good jeweler, big or small, you can get useful services done then and there, or with slightly bigg...