Not The Time To DIY: Repairing Estate Jewelry
Ask anyone who makes their own jewelry from craft store supplies, and they'll tell you that you really can learn to make your own repairs to jewelry as well. Yet sometimes the DIY approach doesn't work that well. It's one thing to have to replace a standard silver or steel jump ring. It's quite another to fix a ring setting where a prong has broken off. If the piece is particularly valuable, you don't want to risk your amateur repairs dimming that value. A professional jewelry repair shop is a better bet when you have items that need fixing.
Access to Supplies
Professional shops have access to a wider variety of supplies, meaning they have a better chance of matching the color and metal type of the pieces that need to be repaired. Craft stores and online sellers have quite a bit of items in stock to suit general purposes, but sometimes their supplies are off by just a tad and are a slightly different shade. A professional repair shop has more options and may even be able to custom-create parts for a truly specific fit.
Advanced Work
A professional working on estate jewelry repair is also highly trained. You can reach a pretty good level of repairs yourself through practice, but you won't have the professional equipment or training to take on the more advanced repairs unless you're in the jewelry-making business as well. You might not have access to soldering equipment or to machines that can smooth out cracks in semi-precious stones, for example. The repair shop, on the other hand, will have everything its workers need to fix the piece you bring in.
Steadier Hand
That professional repair person knows exactly what they can do and will likely have a steadier hand during detail work. Unless you do this professionally yourself, you may end up placing too much psychological pressure on yourself, and you may not have the steadiest hand as you try to solder together a broken bracelet or try to fix some wrapped wire.
Repairs can be rather quick in most cases; longer repairs are possible, but the shop should be able to give you an idea of when the job should be finished. While some repairs like to cracked stones may result in minor imperfections or changes, in most cases, your estate item should look as good as new when the repair person is done.