Timmreck & McNicol Jewelers — Local services in McMinnville

lady up front was super nice! the jewelry displays are pretty and there’s a wide range of off the shelf pieces. my review is from the perspective of trying to have custom jewelry made.

the person in the back of the jewelry making department treated me oddly. i came in looking to have one of my stones set in a simple ring. both them (the person behind the counter) and their partner tried to tell me that my lab chrysoberyl (alexandrite) was lab corundum (sapphire). They literally took out their UV light to test the fluorescence and didn’t believe me. I tried to shift their focus back to why I was there. I wasn’t there to have my gem authenticated… just looking for a setting.

BTW It’ll cost you about $400 to get a gem set in the most basic sterling silver ring here, which I understand for a custom cut rock you need a custom setting, but it’s a tough sale to make, so you gotta at least be friendly to get the customer to want to work with you 🥲 I was hoping to support a local business with this project, but I’ll DIY it. My family has been doing mineralogy and jewelry for generations… it’s just unprofessional to treat a customer like they don’t know what they’re talking about even IF they didn’t know what they were talking about! 😅 Hopefully it was just a weird day for them or a...

I brought 2 watches in , the first to get a new watch band, the second I wanted the inside face and glass cleaned so I could see inside , it is a 1930’s watch my mother had given me, a nice man explained that the watch would have to be sent off so I decided to wait on that, and I went to get a new band on my other watch, the young lady and I found me a selection of browns but you only had long bands she found one and we went up front a thin dark hair man looked thru books and said he would try and find some shorter ones. You were so helpful, I left the watch on Saturday , you said you would call me when it’s was done. I never heard back so Tuesday I came in my watch was done , she handed my watch to me, of course I put it on, she saw the huge gap laughed at me oh wait she took my watch to the man in back ( tall thin dark hair) and asked him to punch me a hole to wear my watch home…. Mind You There We’re 3 to 4 people standing there near the counter Very loudly said WE DO NOT PUT HOLES IN Watchbands!!!!!!! I was so ashamed and horrified it was your band I just bought I was not a child begging for candy , I wanted to wear my watch home ,I just walked out tears running down my face. Oh it took me 2 hits to get my watch to fit thanks...

I loved Timmreck and McNicol. it used to feel like I was in an elegant jewelry shop where the people sitting behind the desk knew everything about all the jewels and metals in there. Now it just feels like a cheap copy of that elegance. the ceiling tiles are like a cheap Indian restaurant, the floor is a fake herring bone wanna be and the only displays in there feel dark and repetitive.

i'm disappointed. I went in to buy another silver bracelet after buying the first one 2 years ago for $40. When I went in I expected to pay more because of the rising price of silver but the front lady said it was the same as before. this was even after asking them to confirm if it was the right price. a couple weeks later I get a call saying they have to raise the price to $55. this would have been fine but they didn't honor the original contact written for $40 and then on top of that I had to wait almost a week over the estimated finish date. I understand the rising price but changing it after the agreed price and making me pay for their own bad communication is embarrassing

Also the pride sticker on the front window looks tacky and takes away from the elegance...