It’s Tools Month here at Stuller, and we are so proud to be your trusted partner. We carry some of the most reputable brands known for their quality and reliability. We understand how important it is to have the best foundation for starting any job, and we see quality tools as just that, the foundation. That’s why we only offer products that our partners have tried, tested, and love.

Week By Week Breakdown

Week 1: Engraving & Stone Setting 

To start Tools Month off at Stuller, Week 1 will encompass engraving and soldering. Make every piece personal when you use any of our engravers and best-selling tools for stone setting. Best Built Engravers (14-2500) are the talk of the town when it comes to choosing an engraver to add to your tool collection.

Week 2: Soldering & Welding

Week 2 will be all about how to solder and weld, along with tips, tricks, and our favorite items we use. You can depend on any of our most popular torches as well as our trusted Revo and Orion welders to finish any job you may have. The Orion Pulse Welder (14-0400) is a perfect option for the everyday bench jeweler and the more experienced.

Week 3: Cleaning, Polishing, & Plating

Jumping right into Week 3 of Tools Month, we are making sure that your pieces of work are clean, polished, and plated perfectly. We want to ensure that your creations shine their brightest, thanks to the Best Built Mini Ultrasonic cleaner (23-5757).

Week 4: Casting & Mold Making

We are finishing up with everything casting and mold making for the last and certainly not least Week of Tools Month. Move into the future with us when you use our new processes to cast or create your molds for any project. Check out the NEW B9Creations 3D printers and XSIL – silica free investments (22-4799) to make any piece for your customers to help them visualize their final products.

Educational Training

We also want to make sure that you always know the ins and outs of your new equipment, which is why we offer educational as well as Stone Setting Training classes. These classes are here to help you become more comfortable with your gear while also getting the most out of your tools. 

Services Offered

Luckily, if something happens to any of your tools or equipment that causes you to need assistance, B&D Sales & Service is only a phone call away to help with any servicing needs. Not only can they help to fix any problem that you may have remotely, but they are also available to travel to you to resolve even the most challenging situations. Stuller’s Tools Teach Team is also available for your convenience.

If you would prefer to handle your problem yourself but need a little assistance, we also have articles listed to help answer the more straightforward issues that you may have. We have multiple categories for repairing tools such as soldering, chain and ring repair, welding, and more. 

If payment is something you are having problems with, Stuller also offers flexible payment options to help you make payments for your larger tool purchases if you need it. With investments of $3,000 or more, the choice of 0% financing with zero money down is available. 

Ensure that you look at all of our services and products that we will be highlighting throughout this month. Explore the Tools Month Page to check out our new products, videos, and articles that we created for your viewing pleasure. We are so excited to show off all we have to offer in the realm of tools.

When a couple comes to you for their wedding rings, they receive the most important piece of jewelry they will wear on their wedding day and the rest of their lives together. But are the wedding rings the only pieces of jewelry they will wear on their special day? Once you’ve taken care of the rings, spark additional conversations with the couple about wedding day jewelry. 

Never underestimate the power of the add-on sale. The process of working with a jeweler while picking out wedding rings fosters a relationship of trust between jeweler and customer. Leveraging this relationship can lead to additional sales and repeat customers. For a bride, you can provide a matching set of earrings, necklace, and bracelet that perfectly complement her ring. For a groom, help him stand out with personalized and engraved cuff links, signet rings, and tie bar. 

In celebration of Stuller’s Year of the Wedding™, we have pulled pieces that make for the perfect wedding day jewelry selection. Shop today at Stuller.com!

For the Bride 

A bride’s accessories are like the cherry on top. Ranging from simple to flashy, these are pieces she wears to feel confident. Learn her style preferences, understand her needs, and suggest pieces that she simply must have. And don’t forget to add something blue!

Rings

Necklaces

Earrings

For the Groom 

The groom will likely not be looking for wedding day jewelry in the same way as the bride. In fact, any additional pieces he wears on the wedding day will probably be gifted to him. Regardless, be sure to have a selection of pieces that appeal to the groom and promote the idea of personalization to make his special day one to remember.

Chains

Engravable Items

Cuff Links and Tie Bars

Your Wedding Partner 

You can shop even more options for day of wedding jewelry at Stuller.com/YearOfTheWedding. 

Don’t forget that we also have an assortment of images and videos ready for you to use in your social media marketing. Log in to the marketing asset library and show off beautiful pieces today! 

Product assortment provided by Pamala Flugence, Stuller Fine Jewelry Project Planner.

Jewelry repair is an underlying revenue stream that pays the bills when things get slow. Did you know repair averages anywhere from 10% to 15% in monthly revenue?

Research shows the main difference between a $1 million shop and a $2 million shop is not the number of jewelry repairs performed. It is the pricing of those repairs. You may be leaving big money on the table by undercharging or overlooking great sales opportunities.

Here are five ways to maximize revenue through jewelry repair:

1. Promote on All Platforms

As an expert in the jewelry industry and a trusted member of your community, take every opportunity to promote your business. Television, radio, and print ads are all great opportunities to tout your repair services. But don’t limit yourself to traditional media. Use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to spread the word to customers who spend lots of time on those platforms.

Check out our best social media tips here.

2. Offer Limited-Time Promotions

Your promotion should be something you can do quickly and inexpensively, like a complimentary battery change. Offer to replace watch batteries for just the cost of the battery. Or offer half price on a chain solder.

The idea is to reward your loyal customers while attracting new ones to your store without losing much time or expense. And, of course, a 15-minute turnaround time gives your customers 15 minutes to browse while they wait!

3. Don’t Discount Everything!

If you’re like many jewelers, you’re not charging everything you could be for repairs. How do you know what you should charge?

The industry standard is Geller’s Blue Book, which provides solid guidelines. Do some research to see how the recommended pricing in Geller’s Blue Book compares to your current rates. Then, adjust your pricing accordingly. Don’t be scared to raise your jewelry repair rates. After all, your time and workmanship are invaluable.

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4. Build Trusting Relationships

You’ve seen the customer who hesitantly hands over her engagement ring to have a prong re-tipped. When you tell her it will take 30 minutes, she offers to stick around while you do the work. And who can blame her for being so nervous? She’s entrusting you with what might be her most cherished possession.

Create a sense of trust with a standard, rigorous take-in process using a detailed repair form. You can never be too thorough:

• Measure the stones
• Describe their color in detail
• Notate any damage to the piece and the condition of the stones
• Weigh the item
• Take pictures from all angles

By taking pictures of her ring and stapling it to the repair envelope, she’ll feel confident that she’s getting back exactly what she left. Plus, if details are not documented on intake, any jewelry repair discrepancies may come back to haunt you.

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5. Upsell, Upsell, Upsell

Use the take-in process to tell your customers about the other services you offer. Tell them you can remount an inherited heirloom piece or engrave the locket she got for her birthday. Or offer an appraisal for their engagement ring so that they can get it insured.

You can also charge more for premium services, like rush jobs. Customers who need their jewelry soon are generally willing to pay a higher price. And don’t forget to use your counter space for trendy, reasonably priced items near the take-in counter to make impulse purchases more likely.

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Here are 10 simple steps to the perfect jewelry repair process

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on January 22, 2018.  

Whether it’s for a special occasion, for a thoughtful holiday gift, or for no reason other than a quick way to express gratitude to a loved one, personalized jewelry is a popular pick during the holiday season. It’s an easy gift, yet one that holds immense meaning to both the wearer and the gifter.

With the styles below, you can give your customers a way to add a distinctive, perfectly personal look to their and their loved ones’ jewelry.

Someone Special

Everyone has a special someone they want with them always — whether in person or in spirit. Nameplate necklaces and initial earrings are just the thing to keep them close.

Some customers may want classic styles for gifts, but others prefer more understated, minimalist options. We provide both.

Something Special

Offer your customers a way to remember the special moments in their lives forever with our engravable pendant necklaces.

This might be a wedding date, the birth date of a child, or the date of any other special milestone in their life — such as a high school or college graduation.

Take it further by offering to engrave a special date on a bar necklace or bracelet.

Somewhere Special

With a personalized piece, your customers can carry a special place with them no matter where they are in the world. Our state necklaces feature an accented city stone and are a great way to keep that special location close.

Remind them these accented state necklaces are the perfect way to remember their hometown, a childhood vacation spot, or the place where they got engaged or married, and they’ll find it hard to say no.

Suggest engraving the name of a city on a bracelet as another way to showcase their favorite place.

Tie it Together

So your customer may be indecisive about what to get, or maybe they want to take their purchase to the next level. What do you do? Perhaps suggest they get an accented state necklace, then add a pair of initial earrings and a second, layered necklace to tell their full story: who, what, and where.

Or suggest a different combination of personalized jewelry entirely. Because that’s the beauty of personalization — endless options, all to make sure they get exactly what they want.

Visit Stuller.com/Personalization to browse our comprehensive selection of personalized jewelry.

It seems like we’re always searching for the next best thing. Whether we like it or not, so are our customers. The perfect piece of jewelry offers us a way to accentuate our style while also keeping up with the times. Here are a few trendy pieces to stock up on in order to offer your customers the perfect look.

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Y Necklaces          

Y necklaces are going to be a huge trend this holiday season, and we’ve created a wide assortment. From all metal to diamond accented, these necklaces can be dressed up or down, so they’re perfect for those holiday parties or casual gatherings. The options are endless.

Personalization 

Personalization has gained popularity throughout the year, and we’ve translated it into many different shapes and sizes. Whether it’s engraving, special finishes, laser patterns, or simply stone type, adding a distinctive personal look has never been so easy.

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Little Hoop Earrings

Little hoop earrings are becoming widely popular due to their petite nature but bold statement. In a variety of shapes and qualities, these earrings are perfect holiday gifts due to their versatility and subtlety.

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Statement Earrings

Statement earrings are seen everywhere and will continue to rise in popularity due to their bold and unique nature. These holiday favorites come in a variety of shapes and qualities, and are lightweight and comfortable. They dress up all occasions.

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What other trends are do your customers love? Let us know on any of our social media channels: Facebook • Twitter • Pinterest • Instagram, or in the comments below!

An art practiced since ancient times, engraving is a popular way to personalize a piece of jewelry. And there are many ways to do so – a special message, a finish, a unique pattern, and many more. If you’ve been thinking about offering some form of engraving in your store, but don’t know where to begin, we can help! Decide which option fits your store best in our handy engraving machine comparison chart below.

	GRS GraverSmith	GRS GraverMax	GRS GraverMach
Feature	26-4013	26-4011	26-4009
Air Regulators	1 Standard	1 Precision	2 Precision
Handpiece Outlets	1	2	2
AUX Outlet for Rotary	None	1	1
Airtact Hand/Foot Control	Compatible (not included)	Compatible (not included)	Fully Integrated
Bias Control	No	Yes	Yes
Price	$$	$$$	$$$$
Skill Level	Beginner	Intermediate	Expert
Control	Foot Pedal	Foot Pedal	Palm Driven
Handpiece Options	Ultra Fine Engraving: 26-4038 Setting & Engraving: 26-4037 Setting & Engraving: 34-2224	Ultra Fine Engraving: 26-4038 Setting & Engraving: 26-4037 Setting & Engraving: 34-2224	Ultra Fine Engraving: 26-4038 Heavy to Fine Engraving: 34-2224 Setting & Engraving: 26-4036

Expert Note: You can engrave or stone set with these machines because they’re all pneumatic/air driven, which lessens the amount of pressure on your hands and wrists.

Do you offer engraving in your store? What’s the craziest thing a customer has asked you to engrave? Share with us in the comments below!

Scariest moment ever: proposing to my then-girlfriend. Close second: picking a Mother’s Day gift for the other special woman in my life. Seriously, every year I go through the same thing. I flip through catalogs for pretty things, I look online for inspiration, I secretly poll her friends for suggestions, I scour her Facebook page for hints. In the end, I try to pick something that conveys how great my mom is and everything she means to me (not that any gift comes close, mind you). And I’m not alone. For most people, finding the right Mother’s Day present is a nail-biting experience. But this year, I’ve finally discovered how to make the whole event a lot less painful: selecting something personalized.

Consumers are shying away from mass-produced objets-d’art. They expect everything they hang on their walls to be a reflection of their personalities. It goes without saying, then, that they expect their jewelry to be just as personal, if not more so. The more handmade-do-it-yourself-thinking-of-you-always a piece is the better. Websites like Pinterest and Etsy are fueling the craze. So what do you offer customers who want something unique if they can’t afford customized jewelry? Engraving. Engraving takes an ordinary object and assigns a value that’s richer than gold. Because what’s more precious than gold (besides platinum, that is)? Sentiment.

Consider Taylor. Last December, Taylor Burgess, our director of bridal jewelry, received the Christmas gift to trump all Christmas gifts. Taylor, who had had been recently searching for a band to stack with her engagement set, finally found the one. Mark Melancon, band product manager, had been working on developing metal bands with feminine details. One day, Taylor walked into Mark’s office where samples of these bands were strewn across his desk. Eureka! One fit Taylor’s set perfectly. But the story doesn’t end there.

Taylor was excited that she finally found one to fit. Around the same time, Taylor’s husband messaged Morgan, Stuller’s bridal project major asking for advice about what to get his wife for Christmas. Morgan let him know of Taylor’s recent discovery and strongly suggested that he consider getting that band. He wasn’t convinced it was the right gift, but when Morgan told him he could engrave the band with a personal message, he was sold. And he knew exactly what message he wanted to put.

When Christmas finally arrived, Taylor was stunned to open the box and find that perfect band inscribed with the word “The luckiest,” the title of the song she walked down the aisle to. So romantic!

Taylor’s gift could have been a band. And it certainly would have been special. But the choice to have it engraved made it the gift of a lifetime. As your customers come in needing your help to find that perfect gift for their mom, steer them in the direction of gifts that can be engraved. These are often reasonably to high-priced items, and the engraving service is a nice upsell.

How have you used personalization to close sales in your store? Share your story with us in the comments section.

For more on engraving click the image below:

For more on Stuller bands click the image below: