Best Jewelers in Pittsburgh

A jeweler operates a retail store that sells jewelry. These stores can also offer extra services, such as watch repair, engraving, and ring sizing. Some jewelers specialize in specific adornments, such as vintage jewelry, while others offer a full lineup of brand-named jewelry items.

A bench jeweler is a professional who creates or repairs jewelry. The term bench is used in the title to describe the type of bench related to the type of jewelry work performed. Some types of bench jewelers include goldsmiths, silversmiths, engravers, and bead workers.

Jewelers buy wholesale gold and jewelry-making supplies from vendors and finished jewelry from other jewelers. Some jewelers may also buy jewelry from individuals to sell as used jewelry or break it down into raw materials to make new adornments. Additionally, some artisan jewelers may get gemstones and metals online or through private sales.

Jewelers buy diamonds and gemstones from various sources, including directly from mines, from gemstone wholesalers online, or in the jewelry district of larger cities. Jewelers can also find diamonds and gemstones to use when making new pieces by disassembling vintage jewelry.

Some small jewelers offer financing through an outside lender. Some may also offer a layaway option as an alternative to financing. This enables buyers to put jewelry on layaway and make payments rather than paying for expensive items in a lump sum. Larger retail jewelers sometimes offer branded financing through a store credit card.

Jewelry stores typically use a jewelry cleaning solution paired with an ultrasonic cleaner to get rings clean. The solution softens deeply ingrained debris, and the vibrations from the ultrasonic cleaner remove dirt from the surface of metal and gemstones. Jewelers then polish and steam rings to enhance the shine.

Jewelers can sometimes untangle necklaces, but if the tangle is too extreme, a jeweler can cut the chain apart and then repair it by removing the jump rings on the ends of the chain or by cutting links. If links are bent from being tangled, jewelers can also fix the damaged links.

Jewelers often resize rings to make them bigger or smaller. This is offered as a service and typically incurs an extra fee. Some jewelers don’t manage to resize in-house; instead, the rings are sent to goldsmiths or silversmiths to have the work completed.

Jewelers resize rings by either stretching the bands, or cutting the shank and then removing or inserting metal. Stretching is only done if the amount of expansion required is small because it weakens the metal. To add a metal piece, jewelers cut the ring shank and solder new metal into the cut space.

You can take a ring to almost any jeweler for resizing. The jewelers who don’t do metalwork can send the ring to a bench jeweler on your behalf to get it resized. Jewelers who have experience with metalwork can perform the resizing job without sending the ring to another metalsmith.

According to Jewelers Mutual, resizing a ring can cost anywhere from $20 up to several hundred dollars. The metal used to craft your ring affects the cost. The amount of expansion or reduction required and the ring's design also influences the price.

According to Mighty Pricey, most jewelers don’t charge to cut off rings. However, the jewelers charge between $50 and $100 to repair the ring after it has been removed from your hand. If it needs to be resized, the ring repair is an additional charge.

Instead of visiting a pawnshop to sell jewelry, you could visit an independent jewelry store to sell it. Some jewelers offer to buy jewelry as part of a trade-in program if you buy something more expensive from them. Bench jewelers and jewelers who specialize in vintage items may also buy jewelry.

According to Just Richest, blue diamonds are the most valuable gemstone in the world. These treasured jewels cost a whopping $3.93 million per carat. The Hope diamond is a famous example of this exotic blue gemstone.

Many jewelry stores do engraving, and the ones that don’t offer that service can still arrange to have it done for you. Engraving is an intricate skill that a hand or machine can do. Ideally, it needs to be done by a bench jeweler to ensure it's done correctly and with the right equipment.

Jewelry should be stored in a jewelry box with a soft lining and away from direct sunlight. It should also not be left in an area with a high level of humidity due to the risk of corrosion. Jewelry should be stored at room temperature.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jewelers usually learn the necessary skills through long-term on-the-job training. Some potential jewelers may also take jewelry-making courses or enlist as apprentices to earn master-level certifications as bench jewelers, such as Master Goldsmiths or Master Silversmiths.