Oletowne Jewelers — Local services in Manor Township

Today my grandmother and I were on the hunt to find a battery for 25+ year watch we tried three stores and could not find this specific battery. On our way home we seen a jewelry store so we decided to try it. Right when we walked in instead of a greeting like “hi how are you” we were met with “what can I help you with?” My grandmother then let him know that she was looking to replace a battery for her watch and she shows him the exact battery she needs. (She brought it in a ziplock bag.) He then begins to tell her her battery she brought in is leaking (basically trying to tell her to take it off his counter, mind you it in a bag and it was not leaking.) He tells her he does sell batteries but that there’s no way she would be able to put the battery in by herself. So my grandmother says okay that she will bring it in (my grandmother has changed the battery in her watch countless times over the years. ) My grandmother then let him know that when she comes in the “Arm” on her watch is broken. He then tells my grandmother “there’s nothing on a watch called an arm” my grandmother then tries to point to his watch and tell him what she means by the arm. Instead of letting her show him he’s like “no I can’t help you there’s nothing called an arm”, in a condescending way. I then stop the man and tell him “I know you know what she’s talking about. The arm, like on a clock ,the arm and the hand, if it’s not the right terminology you could give it to us, be polite.” He then chuckles and walks away, and says have a “nice day.” Never were we rude to this man or anything. And if a white person had entered the store or even a man I doubt they would of been spoken to in a condescending matter or laughed at. The last words I left this man with was “be polite” and walked out the door.

Btw. It took basically all my strength not to curse this man out cuz one thing I don’t play about...

John, who became the owner of Oletowne Jewelers not too long ago, is the kind of jeweler I really like. He's an expert in gems and watches. I first met him when he graduated from the Bowman's Watch Making School in Lancaster a long time ago. Over the years he's given useful advice on jewelry purchases at the shops at which he worked. Now he owns his own shop, and he's the same helpful guy. Last week I took a bunch of ear rings, pins, brooches, and old watches to the store. They were pieces that had accumulated at my mother-in-law's house, and we wanted to sort them out -- to learn what was valuable, what OK and what just old junk. My wife was hoping that we could find a pair of diamond chip ear rings that had gotten mixed up with lots of other ear rings. In less than half an hourk, John was able to separate four pairs of pierced ear rings were rhinestones from the one that was diamond chips. He also told me that two Hamilton watches had some value, and three others were of no value, one unrepairable. It was all extremely helpful, and there was no charge for this informal assessment. When we're ready to get the watches repaired, we'll be back to Oletowne. John's a great jeweler...

My husband, Jonathan, purchased my engagement and wedding rings from Oletowne Jewelers.

His experience of John was of a personable, experienced and professional individual who was committed to meeting our needs and providing us with the best possible service. Relatedly, my husband was very glad that John was always responsive but never pushy.

To our delight, the engagement ring was stunning AND affordable. A bonus was that whenever we went to the store, John offered to polish it free of charge.

John also helped us to choose a wedding band that closely matched a ring that Jonathan had had made for himself years earlier. He then had it hammered so that they now match superbly.

We are delighted to have worked with John, and we highly recommend him and Oldetowne Jewelers to anyone who wants beautiful rings at an affordable price...not to mention great customer...