Real Jewelers — Attraction in Merrifield

I stopped in to talk with Mory one day, on the way to catch my train. By the end of our chat, I knew he has been in business for 30 years, how many children he has, how he refuses to ship the "highest" of high end watches, and he is quietly passionate about what he does. We ended up discussing not just the initial project about which I had intended to ask, but several additional projects I’ve been putting off because I couldn’t find a decent jeweler I could trust.

A week after our initial meeting, I left my first project with Mory: a watch, crafted 80 years ago by my Great Great Uncle at HIS jewelry store in Coronado. The piece was handed down from my Great Great Aunt, to my Grandmother, to my Mother, to me, and will ultimately go to my daughter. Several years ago the watch was the victim of a "bad repair," leaving it in an unwearable condition.

Mory handled the piece with respect and skill. He quoted a price for cleaning and discussed options for repairing the crystal. He then placed the watch on a scale (conveniently placed, in view, at the counter) in order to weigh its gold content. This was significant, and we discussed the watch’s value based on gold content alone. Mory then smiled, shook his head, and told me he was unable to live with the horrible sapphire replacement from the bungled "repair." While no instant match was found in his many trays of gems (surprising!), he assured me he would find one. On that day, I left my family-treasured, one of a kind, heirloom, irreplaceable watch with, for all intents and purposes, a complete stranger.

Two and a half weeks passed (I wasn’t even thinking about it yet), and Mory called to say the watch was ready. HOLY COW! He had taken apart & cleaned the entire works and said it was very well crafted. He got technical, saying something about completely sealing it under pressure (i.e. in a vacuum) but still warned me not to swim with it on…as if! He refused to tell me how long he and a colleague spent looking for a suitable sapphire. And…he found a replacement crystal. He returned the old one to me and showed me the packaging from the replacement, which was original to the era. Someone, somewhere, has collected these things, and Mory knew to look for it. They hand polished the gold, protecting its original crafted texture. He provided an appraisal for insurance purposes and did not charge me a single cent over the quoted price. I am understandably ecstatic.

Why did I tell you all of that? I could merely have stated: Mory is a PASSIONATE JEWELER who DEEPLY CARES about what he does, and he happens to have gained my COMPLETE TRUST. But wouldn’t all positive reviews say that? I wanted to tell the story behind that claim.

In the year 2020, I took a chance and left an irreplaceable family heirloom from 1940 with Mory at Real Jewelers. It did not occur to me, until after the job was complete, that it is quite possible he cared about that watch more than I did. He certainly understood it better and worked to educate me about it. He was passionate about and put great effort into its repair and is understandably proud of the final outcome. I brought him scraps in a box; he returned to me a valuable treasure I can actually wear and, eventually, share with my daughter.

Mory said to me, “Gold, diamonds, treasures…they have 'value' when kept in a safe. But when you wear them, they have real value. When you care enough to wear a piece with sentimental value, why wouldn’t you have it look exactly the way you want?”

I didn’t make that up. He really said that. This...

Real Jewelers and Mory are the greatest for all your jewelry needs and I highly recommend them. I fell in love with an antique diamond and sapphire target ring I found while traveling abroad. I loved the irregularity and imperfections in the diamonds and the setting, specifically the hand-carved center setting where the diamonds created a flower with a star shape in the center. My goal was to wear the ring on a daily basis, which I understood could be a tall order with century old ring. After a very short while, I dropped the ring on concrete and lost a sapphire. I took it to Mory to replace the stone and was worried that he would tell me the ring was too delicate to wear daily, an experience I have had with other jewelers. Instead, he said he understood why I wanted to wear it and would do whatever it took make that happen. The ring setting was so worn and so damaged that it could not hold the extremely small, delicate stones, so after many attempts to preserve the original setting (for so little money we felt like we were taking advantage of him), we decided the ring had to be rebuilt. I was nervous because the particularities of the ring were what I loved, but I should not have been. Mory perfectly understood the elements that I loved, and expertly rebuilt the ring in a way that preserved and enhanced those features all while improving the overall design and structure. When I saw the rebuilt ring, I was shocked that he could take a ring that I loved because of its unique elements and improve it while preserving the core design and feel. Never once did he tell me that I could not wear the ring, shame me for wanting to wear an old piece of jewelry (unlike other experiences I’ve had), or dismiss my emotional connection to the design. Instead, he understood what I wanted, learned what my tastes were, and executed the most perfect rebuild. He genuinely loves jewelry and understands what people want while being extremely talented. All of that effort and he charged us so little we used the money we saved to rebuild the ring to buy new things from him that we had eyed in our many visits. So, in additional to his amazing repair and maintenance, I also have a gorgeous necklace that is a similar design to my ring that I wear daily (designed and made by Real Jewelers), and my husband has an...

I LOVE my wedding band. It is designed by the renown jeweler Alex Sepkus and bought at the Tiny Jewel Box on Connecticut Ave over 25 years ago. After my divorce I wanted to get it resized so I could wear it on my middle finger as stackable rings. It needed to be a size larger. I took it to 3 reputable jewelers in Potomac MD, and all 3 jewelers said that it could not be resized – in that it would ruin the design of the ring. It is an intricate design with small diamonds, rubies and sapphires. So I held on to the ring for many years, and recently thought I would try it again. I got the same result. Some girlfriends suggested that I cut it in half and make a pair of earrings. I couldn't bear to do that, so I thought I would sell it. I looked on eBay, The Tiny Jewel Box and Alex Sepkus’ website to determine price. I found the exact ring on eBay, and it was noted that the ring could not be resized.

Finally a friend suggested that I take the ring to Real Jewelers Inc in Arlington, VA. That the owner could perform miracles with jewelry. I had reservations...but what did I have to lose. I really wanted to keep and wear this ring. I emphasized to the owner – Mory that if resizing the ring would ruin the design not to do it. Mori said don’t worry. I recently received the ring. O M G...it’s beautiful. You cannot tell where it was repaired. He mentioned that a couple of small diamonds were added. The integrity of the design is intact!! I’m totally amazed!. So f you have jewelry that needs to be modified or redesigned...take it to Real Jewelers. You won’t be disappointed. They will make it absolutely beautiful for you!! I’m still in AWE.

After this, I took my Cartier watch to Real Jewelers as it had stopped working…thought it needed a new battery. Mory said that some of the movements had rusted. He took it apart and put it back together in top notch shape. I can now wear it again. ...