The Best Practices for Hiring and Managing an Expert Jewelry Repair Team

As a jewelry brand, you’ve mastered the art of selling your beautiful pieces. Now it’s time to expand, but how? By offering jewelry repairs. Repair services can provide an entirely new stream of revenue. Having a top-notch, in-house expert jewelry repair team is a great way to deliver superb customer service, ensure customer satisfaction, and build loyalty. However, hiring the right jewelers and managing a team effectively requires specific expertise and diligent effort. In this article, we’ll give you some strategies and best practices to hire and manage an exceptional jewelry repair team.

Recruiting Skilled Jewelers

When looking to add jewelers to your expert jewelry repair team, look for candidates with formal training, certifications, and diplomas from respected organizations like the Gemological Institute of America. An official degree should assure you that they have acquired the proper skills and knowledge needed to perform quality work — and when it comes to repairing your customers’ jewelry, quality comes first. 

Be certain the candidates you choose have experience specializing in jewelry repair, which is totally different from jewelry fabrication or design. Repair work requires attention to tiny details and forces jewelers to balance speed and precision when handling fragile pieces. Ask candidates about the types of repair work they’ve completed in the past, such as ring resizing, clasp replacement, stone setting, chain splicing, and polishing. It’s best to look for proven experience across a diverse range of repair skills, prioritizing those required for the services you offer. 

Vet candidates thoroughly by checking references and looking for online reviews of their work. You want to hire jewelers that have been praised for their keen eye, steady hands, patience, and commitment to high-quality repairs. Be wary of any candidate with a history of rushed, sloppy, low-quality, or damage-causing work. If possible, have candidates complete a short paid trial repair to directly assess their skills. 

Creating a Safe and Efficient Workspace

Invest in creating a comfortable, ergonomic, and distraction-free workspace for your repair team. Provide large workbenches with adjustable seating height, high-quality magnification lenses attached to each bench in addition to portable magnifiers, and fundamental tools like ring mandrels and specialized pliers accessible at each station. Proper lighting is also important to help jewelers see clearly while completing precision work — opt for daylight-balanced lamps and overhead, adjustable lighting.

Stock each workspace with all the tools and equipment jewelers need for repairs. These include jeweler's torches, polishing motors, diamond files, watch screwdrivers, engraving tools, and any other specialized tools that are necessary to perform the services you offer. Ensure that any wires or cables are neatly routed around the bench and workspace to avoid clutter and eliminate tripping hazards. 

Streamlining Intake and Tracking 

When you have an order intake system that runs smoothly, your team can be as efficient as possible. Find a consistent, efficient way to manage orders, assign orders to your team members, and communicate about order details in real-time as a team. It’s also smart to have a thorough system that allows you to track the progress of each repair order and keep your team on the same page. You can use software platforms to help you automate all these processes and leave behind those outdated paper order forms. 

Manage Customer Expectations 

When providing estimates on turnaround time, it’s a good idea to underpromise and overdeliver. Factors like repair complexity and team workload can shift timelines, so padding estimates prevents you from disappointing customers if repairs take longer than expected. Provide customers with a timeline and let them know when you’ll be sending them updates. It’s important to keep customers informed on repair status, especially for rush jobs when the pressure is higher. You can use software for this too; look for the ability to automatically send email updates about repair order status, keeping customers informed instead of leaving them to wonder when they’ll see their items again. If (and when) delays arise, explain the reasons clearly and offer discounts or perks on their next order to offset the inconvenience.

Quality Control and Improvement

Before returning any repaired item to a customer, have a manager conduct quality control checks. Look for excellent prong work, perfectly set stones, smooth solder joints, and polished surfaces. This is the opportunity to catch any flaws that may need extra attention before the jewelry makes it back to the customer. If certain issues pop up more often than they should, carve out time to talk to your team and provide extra training. 

Retention Through Work Culture

Having a positive and supportive workplace culture is key for attracting top talent and retaining skilled jewelers long term. Recognize your team’s efforts on a regular basis and create a warm environment that makes your jewelers feel appreciated. Plan social events, team lunches, and birthday parties to nurture camaraderie and foster community. 

Promote open communication between management and jewelers; have regular check-ins to exchange feedback and new ideas, and be sure to instill an open-door policy so your team knows they can come to you anytime. In addition, encourage jewelers to give input on their workflows, tools, and tasks to make sure everyone feels valued, appreciated, and supported. You can even send out surveys or hold meetings where the entire team can discuss these topics openly.
By following these comprehensive best practices, your brand can build an accomplished, successful in-house repair team. An efficient and expert jewelry repair operation will become a hallmark of your brand and boost customer loyalty for years to come. To make sure your team runs as efficiently as possible, use Reshyne. Reshyne is a specialized jewelry repair software that allows you to assign tasks, track order progress, and communicate effectively with your team and your customers in real time. Schedule a demo today to see how Reshyne can change the game for your repair team.