Share the Repair

If preserving one memory is priceless, preserving two memories might be twice as priceless.

Judy brought us two pieces that held a lot of special memories. The wedding set was her mother's, which her father put on her finger in 1958. And since both her parents passed recently, she wanted to bring back its beauty, and re-size it so she could wear it herself. Judy's other piece was a heart charm from her grandmother's charm bracelet. It had Judy's name and birthdate on it, and now she wanted to wear the charm as a pendant...while also adding a bit of gemstone sparkle.

Love it! We went to work!

On the wedding set, we noticed that the shanks were thin on both the engagement ring and the band, and the gallery (side of the engagement ring) was broken on both sides. First, we removed the half shanks, separating the rings from each other. Then, the gallery was rebuilt on both sides of the engagement ring. Each ring then had a new half shank put on it, while making it the size Judy needed. After all that was done, we soldered them back together, and added our finishing touches to the set. It looked brand new and was much stronger. When Judy put it on, it fit perfectly, and she was so happy with how it turned out!

With the charm, we landed on a London blue topaz to represent her grandmother's birth month of December. So we removed the little jump ring on the heart charm first, and attached a new stronger bail. Then we set the topaz into the new pendant basket mounting. Each pendant would be worn next to each other on the same chain.

Now Judy has a necklace that connects her grandmother to her, along with her mother's wedding set on her own finger, and it was our honor to help her preserve these memories.

If you have multiple jewelry projects on your list, bring them all in at once! We’ll sort through the ideas, keep them organized, and get all your memories restored in one fell swoop. We know what it means to you. So don’t give up on it just yet. Plus, make an appointment with our shop and we’ll give you 10% off your repair.

Here’s the story behind this incredibly special video episode of Share the Repair: when Julie's husband passed away, she wanted to create a piece of jewelry that would allow her to wear his band, while continuing to wear hers too. She approached us wondering if there was a way to combine them.Definitely! Together, she and Brad came up with an idea to lay her husband's band flat and drill small holes so it could hang as pendant. Then we could take the sparkly diamonds from the side of her engagement ring and set them into the inner curve at the bottom of the band, which our goldsmith Moriki decided to accomplish via a bezel-setting to complement the round shape of the band.

Then her center marquise diamond was put into its own separate pendant that could be worn with or without the band. This was great because Julie also had a pearl piece that was a gift from her late husband, and she wanted to retain the option of wearing that too. Once the sketch was created and Julie gave the green light, Moriki got to work! Watch how we created this amazingly meaningful piece, and stick around for Julie's reaction...which says it all.

Nothing preserves the memory of a loved one quite like a piece of jewelry. If there’s someone you want to remember every day, our team would be honored to help you create a special piece that keeps them extra-close to you forever. We know what they mean to you. So don’t give up on the idea just yet.

While not strictly a “repair” project, this custom cufflink project our shop performed for Deb is one of our favorite stories. Here are the full details:

Deb’s boyfriend is named Andrew. When Andrew and his brother John were kids, they planted a tree in the backyard with their Dad. Years later, when their Dad died, that southside Chicago home was sold to new owners, and life went on. Fast-forward, Deb and Andrew are dating, Deb learns about the significance of Andrews’ childhood tree in Chicago…and decides to find it. 

For that, Deb recruited John’s wife Kim to drive by the old childhood home and see if she could simply grab a branch off the tree. But when Kim drove by, she was devastated to see that the tree was gone. Neither of the brothers knew this had happened, so when Kim went home and told John the news, it hit him pretty hard. 

That’s when Deb knew she had to keep trying.

So undaunted, she decided to write a letter to the unknown owners asking permission to visit the property and see if perhaps a stump was still buried in the backyard. Here’s a copy of that letter! 

Incredibly, the owners responded and agreed. One day, Deb got a text saying, “You can come by and look around the backyard, but don’t knock on the door.” This prompted a hopeful Deb and two friends to secretly fly to Chicago, in search of a stump in the backyard of her boyfriend Andrew’s childhood home. Here’s an extended excerpt from a journal Deb wrote to Andrew on the plane. Deb wrote:

“I’m forcing myself to answer why I’m doing this. It dawned on me that stuff like this isn’t normal. I think my friend Mark said it best when I asked for his help. He said, ‘It’s because we like stories.’ I guess that’s essentially what life is, isn’t it? Without any stories, what is it? So many people harp on the negatives and we all put so much time, energy and money into solving problems. Why not so much of the same preserving memories? I’ve observed that a lot of the best leadership quotes and love quotes stem from positive moments. We relish in them decades later. Why not create them? 

Another reason I’m doing this: my dad also planted a tree for me in our front yard back in Florida. I watched it grow. I later learned it got taken down. My dad was so disappointed. He wanted to be able to show me something at that address that embodied how he felt about me. He wanted to show me that he believed in my future and our family’s future and that there was a moment in time when he believed he’d be able to look back at the tree and just tell me a story. 

He had found the tree growing from an acorn in the orange groves behind our home. He thought it was the most beautiful thing to find a seed make its way through life on its own. He believed Mother Nature and God are the most beautiful things. He continually talks to the simple beauty around us. Perhaps it’s his growing up with nothing, his journey through Vietnam, I’m not sure. But I do know it’s a memory that is important to both my dad and me. So when you told me you and your brother also planted a tree, you never told me why or really when. Perhaps I projected my own symbolism onto it. For me, to have a piece of my memory would be priceless. Now that we have both become successful, it’s important to me to give you something you can’t buy.

Right now I’m in the air to Chicago, and have no idea if we will find anything. It’s like going on the ultimate treasure hunt! A needle in a haystack? I mean what are the odds that a person would open my letter and actually care enough to respond? Maybe while all men are inherently evil, good can persevere? I hope that we get lucky and find a stump from the tree you planted as a kid, because it would mean a lot to me to give you and your brother something that I also wish someone could give to me. 

I have to lie to you, and I am so sorry! Your brother John is coming to the apartment tonight, and I am going to tell you that my friend Jim’s flight is late. The truth is I have a car service picking us up at O’Hare and taking Jim, Mark and me to your childhood house on the Southside. Mark actually packed a saw in his luggage!! We are on a treasure hunt to look for the stump to find anything we can of that darn tree! But yeah… we’re going with a saw to a random house on the Southside to dig around in someone’s backyard.”

When Deb, Mark, and Jim arrived at the house, they started digging…and were thrilled to find the stump and cut off a piece! 

With the hard part done, the rest was easy. Deb brought the wood from the stump to us, and we fashioned it into a pair of cufflinks for Andrew and his brother.

Back on the plane, before they got to Chicago and the outcome was still in doubt, Deb wrapped up that journal entry by writing this:
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“Andrew, I am trying to capture the feelings of hope that I have right now. I know you have always asked me why I set myself up for disappointment. Like why I follow Illini football. BUT what if it’s a win? What if we get lucky? Then it becomes a great story of hope, determination and love.”

And that’s exactly what happened.
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When you have an amazing story that can be made real through a piece of jewelry, let us know and we’ll help you tell it. We know what this means to you, so don’t give up hope just yet.