Leonard Jewelry — Local services in Stillwater

I really hate that I have to write this review, but a recent experience has left me rattled and untrusting , so I felt the need to warn others. We needed current jewelry appraisals for a new insurance policy. I called two local jewelers, one stated their cost up front and the other [Leonard’s] did not mention any cost. I mistakenly assumed Lenard’s offered a monthly [traveling] appraiser as a customer incentive. I had several phone conversations (with the same person) about the appraisal appointment, their need to reschedule (twice) and confirming my attendance. Yet again, no mention of cost. We purchased our wedding rings and a few other pieces from Elizabeth (former employee). It was our delight to have her guidance for purchasing and maintaining our jewelry. She was very knowledgeable and never misleading.

Two of the six pieces that needed appraisal were from my deceased Mom. She died when I was very young, so those pieces held some of my fondest childhood memories (I used to play with her necklace at bedtime, and always admired her blingy wedding ring during church :D). I also disclosed and discussed in advance [with the same person as above], how I did not want to leave my Mom’s pieces during the appraisal. They reassured it would be no problem for me to stay with those pieces.

I don’t think their appraiser appreciated my presence during her examination of my Mom’s jewelry. She rudely remarked they were too dirty to appraise. I had no experience with the appraisal process or how to prepare jewelry for it, so I took my Mom’s jewelry home [to soak].

When I returned a few hours later the appraiser had already left. So imagine my shock-and-horror at the amount due, $355.00!! Keep in mind, we bought three of the six pieces from Leonard’s and my Mom’s two pieces were [allegedly] “too dirty to appraise”…So WHY was I getting charged so much?!

My husband made the next phone call. They actually LIED to him about not knowing we had purchased any of the pieces from them… Wait, what?!! I mentioned our purchase history several times and how much we missed buying from Elizabeth. I also witnessed them finding both of our names in their computer database and merging the accounts (and they proudly stated their records date-back to 1992). This begs the question, how could they NOT know before taking our money as non-customers? The charges were reversed and no “appraisal certificates” were issued.

ETHICS SHOULD BE AN ABSOLUTE MUST IN THE JEWELRY BUSINESS!!

P.S. Leonard’s website does not disclose any cost for appraisals other than “free jewelry appraisal for Diamond and Gemstone jewelry that is purchased from our store.”. Also the website refers to their appraiser as a “Certified Master Appraiser”, which is not a certification from American Gem Society (AGS) or the National Association of Jewelry...

This place is great for selection, my family has been here many times to purchase jewelry, but do not get your repairs done here. For selection, 5/5 stars. For repairs, 0/5 stars.

My husband bought my engagement and wedding ring set from Leonard's in 2015. After he proposed, we had to have my engagement ring resized because it was too big (normal issue when proposing). Fast forward 2 years to our wedding. I decided to get my rings soldered together since they are a set and the fit together very specifically. Leonard's did not check to see if the rings were the same size before soldering them together. I did not catch this as I was not supposed to wear my newly soldered and cleaned ring before the wedding. Wedding day comes and my cousin wanted a picture of our rings on our hands together before the ceremony. Turns out, my ring didn't fit, it was too small. I'm not much of a ring wearer, so I was unaware of the fact that the wider the band, the larger the ring size. Leonard's neglected to tell me this. After further inspection after the ceremony, I realized that the rings were soldered together at two different sizes! And that somehow, my wedding band was smaller even though it had not been resized at all since purchase (you'd think it would be too big since my engagement ring was originally too big). I took my ring back to them the following Monday and they said they would resize it and fix it. I got it back and the soldering was shoddy, the band was uneven, and the rings were still two different sizes with no definition between the bands. I have just now been able to take it to a different jeweler to get properly repaired because the repairs are going to cost almost a third of what was paid for the ring.

Like I said before, this place is great for selection, but do not get your repairs done here. It is worth the little bit of extra money to go to a certified jeweler somewhere else one time, than to put forth money for 3-4 times of repairs of repairs at Leonard's just to still take it somewhere else for double the price to fix all of...

While I have to say the staff is very nice, I would advise against buying anything of any real value from this jeweler. He does not stand behind it. My husband purchased a bracelet that broke 3 times and was repaired 3 times, all within a few days of wearing it. He reluctantly gave me a store credit and emailed me a few options of “equal value”. While the new bracelet was clearly much sturdier and did not break, It became clear I was traded for junk. I have NEVER had a piece of “14k gold” rust. The piece of junk rusted and I paid over 3500.00 for it. Upon sending it back, we were told it was just the clasp and he would put another one on, but it will be the exact same type of clasp. I was told just “not to shower or anything” with it on. I have several pieces of 14k jewelry that I have had much longer with similar clasps and I swim, bathe and even sweat with them on and they have NEVER rusted. He refuses to give us our money back, even though he could polish it up, put another crappy clasp on it and sell it to another trusting customer. I really like to but jewelry from local jewelers when I travel as it’s a beautiful memory for me. But this is one I suggest you skip, unless your going to just purchase...