Hartley Jewelers

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

I had my wedding band custom designed for me at Hartleys three years ago. Its a channel set ring in platinum with 8 diamonds that we paid about $1500 for. From the time I got it, I knew it was a little un-even. The metal was obviously more thick on one side of the channel than the other - which caused the band to sit up against my other ring perfectly on one side, while there would be a gap on the other. I didnt want to be demanding and even though I wasnt completely happy with it. I didnt understand the processes of setting platinum - so I wasnt sure how even it could be. I have just gotten used to it over the years and accepted it as is. A few weeks ago, I was downtown Olympia and walked into another jewelry store which I have purchased other items at to have my rings cleaned. The woman helping me noticed that three stones on the thin side were very loose. She recommended I not wear it until it could be fixed. I took it to Hartleys right away (and have been taking it there for routine checks and cleaning over the past three years). The man who helped me noticed right away that it was thin on one side, and admitted that due to the properties of platinum, it wasnt due to wear on my part. I left it with them and was to get a call with an estimate. A week later, no call. I called them - it had been put aside somewhere else, and had not even been looked at yet. When they called me back to tell me they had located it, he said that they would be done working on it within 30 minutes and I could pick it up. I was very surprised, because the man I had spoken with told me that it is usually very difficult and takes time to re-work platinum, and sometimes it needs to be re-worked with white gold. When I went to pick it up, I was pretty upset. He did a fast, crappy repair job. He pushed the metal down from the side of the channel, and in between the diamonds. It is VERY obvious to the naked eye. It looks ugly. When I asked if something could be done about it, the owner started going OFF on me! I was not being rude or accusing him of anything. He went on and on about how I never should have chosen platinum in the first place because I have much too active a lifestyle (um, hello... he doesnt know anything about me, I am VERY careful), he told me that platinum is over-marketed and just plain out wasnt a good choice. He told me that he could work on it a little more but "not on his dime". He then told me that my standards and expectation of "perfection" were just "way too high". WHAT?!?!?! It wasnt perfect in the first place - and yes, thats my fault for not going back right away, but he wasnt even willing to try and fix it except for his 30 minute crap job. Now I just got an estimate from another place, who told me that its screwed up so bad it will cost $600.00 to fix it, so I might as well just have it re-cast because it will be cheaper! I am so upset and I would never, EVER recommend someone go there. I just absolutely cannot believe the manner in which I was spoken to and the way I was treated. It was awful. The kicker? The diamond on the end is still loose after his "repair job". Skip this place.

MA

Marie M.

I have been to Hartleys 3 times in the last 10 years to have repair work and design work on both my and my husbands ring. First, I paid for an appraisal about a year ago since the last one I got had been 10 years old and I needed an updated one to put on my home insurance. When I got my appraisal I was very dissapointed when I saw the newly appraised price come in $3,000 cheaper even with newly added diamonds to my band. My diamond alone should have come in at least $15,000 for a 1.25 Hearts on fire diamond.... which is a special cut that sets these diamonds apart. When I asked about the price, I felt as if he got a little snooty about it, and made me feel as if I had made a poor choice in purchasing a Hyped up Diamond. Instead he let me know that he appraised the diamond as an ideal cut and not a Hearts on Fire Diamond, because thats all the insurance cares about. And I basically bought into the hype of these cuts. If anyone has seen a comparison of a ideal cut diamond next to the Hearts on fire diamond, theres no doubt you will see a true difference in brilliance like black and white. The second thing that I was dissapointed about was that I was having 7 small diamonds placed in my band that I did not approve of where they ended up placing them because of room issues. They could have called and made sure it was ok to go ahead and do what they wanted, but instead they just left the one diamond out and placed the 6 in the band. The 3rd most recent dissapointment, and for sure the last time I ever go in there is the last project I had them work on was a very simple request of white gold plating my husbands wedding band. I never talked about anything else but wanting the band to be dipped to go from 14k yellow gold to 14k white gold. What I got was one small strip across the top of the ring and everything else was 14k gold. And my soft side is that I am too nice of a person to say much, so I went ahead and paid for it, but have to say I am very sad, since this was suppose to be a surprise for my husband on our 10 year anniversary. The ring barely looks like it had anything done to it. Shouldve kept the cash I paid and went out to dinner instead. Sorry Hartley Jewelers. I chose to have business with you because of your long history of being here in the community, but Im afraid my last visits have felt as if the people at the counter were not really "listening" to what I wanted.

A

A Private User

This place is a true gem! I have had Hartley Jewelers do many different jobs for me and have always been very pleased with the quality of their work. They did a beautiful job restoring a bracelet for me that my mother used to wear when she was young. They fixed several loose prongs on my sisters diamond ring (discovered when she came in for a complimentary cleaning) and my husband and I are going to have our wedding rings custom made by Hartley Jewelers. Their custom designs are as artistic as their goldsmiths are skilful. I have always been treated not just fairly, but with great warmth and kindness. I believe Hartley Jewelers have what I call "business ethics from the good old days" and you just cant go wrong with that. Hartley Jewelers is our family jeweler and I highly recommend them.