Broken Jewellery!

It is a somewhat sad truth that an awful lot of popular jewellery is quite cheaply and badly made. 

Unfortunately, once gifted and worn it quickly becomes meaningful for reasons of sentiment and it behoves us to do our best to repair these pieces for those for whom they mean so much. 

Sometimes this means almost rebuilding an item to make it a better piece of work with more longevity. It can often cost more than the item did originally. 

Even so, some pieces cannot be repaired, holloware and fashion jewellery are especially poor candidates for reconditioning and renovation. It is a commonly held truth that you get what you pay for and if you buy cheap you may well end up buying twice! 

It is far worse when we have repair customers who have clearly overpaid for their items in the first place – a tricky conversation to have when we have to assess their jewellery and give them the bad news. Thankfully this is does not happen that often. 

At Rhiannon we have a standing policy that any item well cared for should last for 50 years even when worn repeatedly. Obviously chains break, claws wear down, fittings bend and twist but the core item should be solid and lasting. Indeed we have a standing guarantee that if someone manages to wear out one of our pieces we’ll replace it at half its current price. It doesn’t happen often but there are customers who have worn the same necklace or earrings constantly for forty years. We still produce around 95% of everything in the standard range that we have ever made and it tends to be designs or models that haven’t reached our exacting standards that have been dropped. This means that you can wear it out, lose it, break it and still replace it. 

Rhiannon is forever! 

We also repair and adjust our own work at half price – partly because we know that our quality makes the work considerably easier for us. 

We do also receive some very fine jewellery for repair, these can be challenging but are almost always interesting. There is also a pleasure in working with something that is instantly and recognisably well made. Whatever the quality of the piece we receive we always try and ensure that when it leaves our hands it is not only repaired but, where necessary and if possible, improved. 

Ultimately, despite the frustrations, repairing things that are precious for the people who own them is always rewarding.