Galleria J. Antonio — Local services in New York

I stumbled upon Galleria J. Antonio on a cold and windy snowy day in late February 2022. A genuine warmth radiated from the owner, and the heated Aladdin's cave I found myself in was a welcomed refuge from the biting cold wind that whistled down Avenue A off the East River. And just like that I'd found my favourite jewellery store.

For full disclosure it is a love/hate relationship. The love comes from me when I clasp a necklace or thread ear rings into the lobes of my ears. The love comes from the compliments I receive each time I wear a piece purchased at 43 Avenue A, New York. But the hate is real too.... I most recently felt it on Monday, June 13th, my last full day in the city. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was wearing a floaty blue sun dress with my cowgirl hat and gold western ankle boots. I found myself walking down St Mark's Place, where I turned Right onto Avenue A..... And found myself standing in front of a shuttered shop, looking at the beautiful coloured necklaces and ear rings and other, beautiful curiosities. Closed. Monday and Tuesday. I almost cried, but I didn't want to smudge my mascara. And that shuttered door saved me from my other hate: my bank balance after I visit Jesse and his delightful husband....

Now, Galleria J. Antonio is no Tiffany's, nor Cartier. It's a far more interesting shop. The pieces are all so much more interesting and so much more unique. The pieces I have purchased in the past have cost me from less than $100- through to a few hundred dollars. (my credit card hurts because I can never decide on just one piece!)

So as I sit here, shivering through a Sydney winter evening, with my hot cocoa, hoping to find sleep soon, filled with the sweet dreams of shopping at 43 Avenue A, NYC, I console my recent disappointment with a misting of my favourite fragrance, which I purchased on my last day in the City from their...

I brought a coral necklace here that I had bought in Vietnam in 2012 - I wore it for 9 years on the original clasp & string. When the string finally broke, I brought it into Galleria J Antonio - they charged me $80 to restring and add a new clasp - this was more than the cost of the original piece but the piece has sentimental value, so I reluctantly paid the fee. After only a few wears, the metal clasp broke. I understand the necklace is heavy, but the original Vietnamese clasp lasted for years and cost no where near $80 for the entire necklace. This all happened pre-COVID - with summer approaching I remembered to get the necklace fixed. I brought it in and the owner looked at it and said “you need to bring this back to whoever gave you this clasp!” (Suggesting it was cheap and should be replaced) I said “you sold me that clasp!” They immediately denied that they provided the clasp, saying they would have knotted between every string. I asked if they were calling me a liar and they said “no no no”.

I was not asking for any money back or for them to fix the necklace for free - but they immediately went into defense mode. Then they said they would need to restring the necklace again (another $80) and then went on a long tangent about how nothing in life is certain and ended with agreeing with me that it wasn’t worth me fixing again due to the weight of the necklace. Wish I got that advice the first time!

They blatantly overcharge and are not honest. I am writing this review as a warning to others.

I ended up going to the hardware store and fixing the clasp...

I came to this store to get my watch battery changed as I do every couple of years. I usually go to another watch repair shop in the area, however it was closed down due to the pandemic. I’ve never had any issues changing my watch battery before, but this time I was told that it wasn’t my watch battery that was the problem but that I would likely need a brand new circuit for my watch and that it would cost me $40-50. Not only that, while I came in with a working watch (the second hand just was skipping but it was otherwise functional and accurate) I left with an absolutely nonfunctional watch. I ended up taking my watch back to Macy’s where I purchased it and they were able to replace my watch battery without any issues and return to me a fully functional watch (no circuit change necessary). On top of that they gave me a 2 year warranty on the battery. I honestly hope that it was just a mistake on the shop owners part and not a scam to up charge me for a repair I didn’t need, but unfortunately I must give this a 1 star experience. You have...