Andrew Minton Jewelers — Local services in Charlottesville

**Update: Keller and George will do the work for us, with the same exact split rings and labor, for $100. They were floored when I told them Andrew Minton first estimated $365 and then $258. That's called price gouging and is a separate issue from their tax fraud.

This may have been a reputable business back in the day, but my experience this year with this store has been horrific. They were supposed to duplicate a ring setting for me (and they actually had the ring so this shouldn't be that hard), but they kept coming back with settings that were completely different than the original ring. After five months of going back and forth and getting nowhere, I asked for my ring back. This past week, I needed to purchase three small gold jump rings to have soldered to a bracelet, and the estimate they gave me was $365!!! I had to repeatedly ask for clarification, and only then did they say "whoops, we accidentally doubled the labor charge". Their cost for both the labor and jump rings was almost double that of Keller and George for the exact same product and service, even without the doubled estimate. Then, he (Brian) added tax onto the labor charge. I know that jewelry labor should not be taxed, and when I asked him about it, he said this: "We have been advised by our accounting company to charge sales tax on work do using materials to compete the task. It is near impossible for us to determine the cost of the solder, propane, oxygen, flux, acid, and other items used in a basic solder." I followed up with both him and Andrew Minton asking again why they are taxing labor, and neither responded to my multiple emails. I've spoken with Ken, the manager of Keller and George, and he said that in his 40 years of work he's never heard of a jewelry store charging tax on repairs. I deeply regret ever doing business at this store and find myself wondering if I've been completely ripped...

Unfortunately, I had a bad experience with my jewelry appraisals with Andrew Minton Jewelers. It took twice as long as they quoted and their communication was abysmal. I called when they were initially supposed to be done, and was told they weren't ready because of an illness. This is understandable, life happens. They set a new date to be ready and when I drove in to pick up, they couldn't find the jewelry for around 10 minutes, which was nerve wracking! They were not ready that day, a new deadline was set, and they promised I would get a call confirming that. That day passed with no call, so I called and was told it would be done by end of day. Unfortunately, I received no call and it was not done that day. I called again the next day, and the day after before it was confirmed to be done and in hand for pick up. Not once did they call me for the month they had my jewelry, I had to call each time for an update.

I spoke about my concerns to the owner at pick up and he offered no apologies other than to defensively say that they are busy and given how busy they are they cannot always call customers when they say they will, nor hit deadlines they set for themselves. I don't feel this is an appropriate excuse for poor customer service. I repeatedly told him I was not upset about the delay in providing the service, but in the lack of communication and disorganization. I personally would not trust them with my jewelry given his defensive response to their substandard performance. I prefer to use local businesses, but I will not use them again, and would not...

Great place to get your engagement ring. My fiance wanted to custom design a ring and Andrew worked with him every step of the way. This process can be laborious, and it took many weeks. Andrew ordered lab grown diamonds for him to look at, along with many sample rings. My fiancee (after about 5 weeks of going back and forth to the shop every couple of weeks to look at samples and stones that arrived), was able to order the ring. After 8 weeks of waiting for the ring to be finished it arrived! And it was the wrong color. We realized that a yellow gold band had arrived, but we had ordered white gold. Andrew immediately leapt into action! We had a planned engagement date, so Andrew told us to keep the engagement ring, and he would call us when the white gold one delivered, and we would transfer the stones to the correct ring. So we got engaged! And it was beautiful. 1 week later, Andrew called us, we dropped off the ring, within a business week, we got the beautiful white gold ring in. Although we had a few hiccups along the way, overall, I think when it comes to engagement rings, Andrew Minton does a great job. This is a family business, and they definitely have a family attitude. You feel welcomed when you arrive, but you gotta relax and recognize that jewelry and diamonds take a long time to get perfect. This ring is such good quality that it will last...