What we do
Repairs at the bench upstairs, a ring drawn with you and made in the arcade, wedding bands in the width you actually want, a watch battery while you wait, a valuation an insurer will accept, and a cabinet of pieces bought from people in Cardiff. Each has its own page with what it costs and how long it takes.
01
Rings resized, worn shanks replaced, claws re-tipped before the stone goes, chains soldered, clasps replaced, stones re-set and pearls re-threaded, by two goldsmiths at the bench behind the counter. Twenty jobs are priced on the list; everything else is quoted before we start.
Resizing from £25 in silver, £45 in gold and £85 in platinum for one size.
02
A piece made for one person, from a conversation. An hour at the table with Elin and a sketchbook, a scaled drawing within a week, a wax model you can try on, then the ring in metal before the stone is set. Nine-carat from £650, eighteen-carat from £950, platinum from £1,400, with your own stones or ours.
From £650 in nine-carat gold, £950 in eighteen-carat and £1,400 in platinum, including the drawing, the wax and the hallmark; stones on top at cost plus setting.
03
Wedding bands made upstairs in nine-carat, eighteen-carat and platinum from £240, in the width and profile you want rather than the one in the tray; engagement rings from the cabinet or made for you, with diamonds and coloured stones that come with a certificate; and the two rings shaped so they sit together.
Plain wedding bands from £240 in nine-carat, £390 in eighteen-carat and £560 in platinum, made to your width and profile.
04
Batteries fitted while you wait for £12, or £28 with a new gasket and a pressure test for a watch you swim in; straps and bracelets fitted and sized on the spot; crystals, crowns and stems replaced; and quartz and mechanical services by Tomos, who has been mending watches since 1989 and will tell you honestly when one is not worth it.
A battery £12 while you wait; with a reseal and pressure test £28.
05
Written valuations for insurance, probate and division, with each piece weighed, measured, tested and photographed and the document laid out the way insurers ask for it. £55 for the first item and £25 for each after in the same visit, back within five working days, by Elin, who holds the NAJ diploma.
£55 for the first item and £25 for each further item in the same visit, for insurance, probate or division.
06
A cabinet by the door of pre-owned and antique pieces bought from people in Cardiff, each one checked, cleaned, repaired where needed and described on its ticket with the metal, the stones and the age as honestly as we can tell. From £45 for a silver piece to a few thousand for a Victorian diamond ring. We buy gold, silver, watches and jewellery over the counter, weighed in front of you.
From £45 for a silver piece; most rings in the cabinet are between £180 and £900; Victorian and Art Deco diamond pieces up to about £4,000.
The bench
Every piece is looked at under magnification at the counter before a price is said, and we tell you what else we can see: the second claw going, the thin shank, the stone that is slightly loose. Then the ticket.
Gold is repaired in the same carat and colour with a matching solder, so the join cannot be found. Platinum is finished differently and takes longer, which is why it is ten days on the list and not five.
Every ring repair ends with each stone checked and tightened, because a loose stone after a repair is our fault. It is why the polish is free with any job: the ring has to go on the wheel anyway.
Anything we make goes to the Birmingham Assay Office for a full hallmark, which adds a week we cannot shorten and is the reason a plain band takes four weeks rather than three.
Repairs, batteries and the cabinet need no appointment: the counter is open Monday to Saturday, 9:30 to 5:30, in the Royal Arcade. For a bespoke commission, a ring fitting or a valuation, book an hour and we reply within the working day with a time. The price list is on the wall and on here.
