Maloy's Jewelry — Local services in Portland

In January my fiancé and I came in to get my engagement ring resized. I so want to keep my review objective, but the woman we spoke to did not seem to want to help us from the start. She didn’t greet us, didn’t congratulate us on the engagement, and asked to look at my ring without even looking at me. Okay, fine. She asked what the stone was (moissanite) and frowned at my answer before disappearing into the back wordlessly. When she returned she let us know that they couldn’t guarantee the work because my ring’s stone was soft and the setting would make it difficult for them to resize it. She told us this would take 6-8 weeks. Frustrated and confused, I let her know that the jeweler we had tried to go to (they were closed) could do it in a day. At this point, she had dismissed us completely, huffing about how Maloy’s has a master jeweler and his work takes time. I asked for the ring back and left with my fiancé.

Some thoughts: I am under the impression that ring resizing is done by removing or adding metal to the band, usually at the bottom. My ring has three moissanite stones in a tulip setting, not particularly unusual and should lend well to simply removing a bit of metal on the bottom. I concede that it’s possible that Maloy’s master jeweler has a unique process for downsizing rings that takes 6-8 weeks. I do wonder how a master jeweler would lack confidence in their ability to not damage a stone as hard as moissanite in merely resizing the band. Truly, if these things had been kindly explained to me I would have been more satisfied with the answer I was given.

Reading these reviews is interesting. I get the sense that you get sized up when you enter the store and if you don’t pass the vibe check you don’t get good service. I guess that’s fine if that’s the kind of business you’d like to run. I have been thinking about this interaction with the woman who works here (who I have been calling the “evil librarian”) so so so much and recently realized that I can let people know there are better places to spend their money! Wow. So that’s my recommendation. ABC Jewelers resized my ring in one day for half the price Maloy’s quoted me and were completely nice and professional....

Malloy's is a treasure and a landmark shop that you should visit anytime you are looking for great pieces of vintage jewelry and vintage watches and timekeeping pieces. They have a great collection of beautiful rings, necklaces, pendants and other items gathered from obviously upper and estate sales and the like. The watches they have for sale are unusual and many nice pocket watch pieces as well as men's and women's wrist watches. Many are out of my budget range, but they also provide prompt and friendly service for replacement of watch batteries and adjustment of sizing of metal watch bands. I visited last week to have the metal band of my new Seiko watch properly sized by removing three metal bands and Jennifer did a great job removing 3 links and giving them to me for possible future use if my wrist expands. I almost walked out without paying her then turned back to settle up, but she refused to take any payment!. Anyone should visit this wonderful little shop that has been there for as long as my office has been here, at least 20 years. Great service, great inventory, and...

In just about any situation, I respect an approach that is guided by the most knowledge, the most evidence, and is the most fair.

The vintage dealer that sold me my ring told me one expectation about the condition of it. And I got another expectation from a different jewelry shop. And I did a little research.

Then I went to Maloy's. I didn't say what I was previously told. I just asked their opinion. What they told me about my ring made the most sense and was well supported by my prior experiences. Also, I could tell that they were being much more fair with me than the other jewelry shop- not just in price, but that was certainly part of it.

They did a beautiful repair for my ring. They have gorgeous pieces in the store.

I feel like I gained a truly knowledgeable resource by being their customer. And the fact that they were immediately down-to-earth is something I will remember and respect. And the skillful work is right on the heels of that.

Next time I'm in the market for jewelry, I will...