Jewel Box - Oakland (CA)

5 /5 Carol Kasparek: Reza took great care with my father’s watch, cleaning it & replacing the battery so I could wear it during an upcoming hike through France. My father always enjoyed following my travels. With his passing last year, I treasure bringing a remembrance on this journey. Many thanks, Jewel Box.

1 /5 Safi Rouhi: I came here to have a bezel removed from a dive watch, and told the guy that while it was fine if the bezel itself was damaged in the removal process (I was replacing it), I was not ok with damage to the watch case. He took it behind the counter and about 10 minutes of banging and scraping noises later he returned with the bezel still on and several deep scratches in the watch case, which he denied making. He also broke the bezel action, which is a bit less trivial now seeing as its still stuck on the watch. He was totally uncommunicative the the whole time and never warned me that he didnt have the proper tool, which he told me after the fact. He didnt charge me anything though, so I guess if you need to irreparably damage a polished metal surface on the cheap look no further.

1 /5 Karren Freedman: I can honestly say this was the worst experience I have ever had with a retail business. I purchased a Tom Binns necklace from Postmark. Tom Binns makes high end costume jewelry. The necklace consisted of different shapes of clear rhinestones and several strands of small chains. I paid $340.00 for the necklace. When I received it, there were some knots in the small strands of chains. I was able to get some of the knots out but thought a jeweler would be better equipped to handle the project. I took it into Jewel Box and the owner told me he would not charge me anymore than $200.00. Although I thought that was a bit much I reluctantly agreed. I went to pick it up two days ago and he told me it would cost $700.00. Then he immediately said he would discount the amount $100.00. I reminded him of our earlier conversation which he immediately denied. He also said he never discussed the amount of money he will charge. I was extremely upset. The receipt did not have the store name or amount on it. I found out later that he discounted by $50.00 not $100.00 like he said he was going to. I have now spent $1,000.00 on this piece of costume jewelry and it is completely unwearable and it is doubtful that it can be repaired. It looks nothing like it did when I brought it in to the Jewel Box. The small strands were obviously removed from the ring to which they were attached and now they are a tangled up mess. I know they were removed because the tiny strands of chain were linked to a larger silver ring on both sides of the necklace. One of the sides was opened and was then closed by a gold tone ring that was smaller than the silver one on the other side. This is the only piece of gold tone jewelry on the necklace. When he was ranting and raving about all the time he, his wife and his daughter spent working on it, I could only imagine that the daughter must have put the gold tone ring on the necklace. I cannot even fathom how this piece of jewelry became so messed up. NEVER, NEVER AGAIN will I take anything back to that place.

5 /5 Ian Storrar: Reza is a great guy in a lovely little shop. He’s very pleasant to talk to, and makes jokes about things costing more than they really do. You just have to get used to even if they’re unexpected. It’s a small family business so I like to support him, especially with tough times through the pandemic and recent break ins. I’ve bought lovely jewelry for my wife and daughter here. All reasonable. Nothing too fancy or very expensive (you can find nice things for under $50 or under $500 depending on the occasion) but I figure I’m paying partly to support a local business as opposed to big retail or online mass produced stuff. I had a watch repaired too. The repair was great. He did lose my phone number so I dropped in after not hearing back from him for a while. It was done and cost exactly what he’d estimated.

5 /5 Anna P: For too long, I have been carrying around 2 watches that needed batteries and one of them also needed a link removed (band adjustment.) While traveling, it can be difficult to have to leave watches for later pickup, but here, I was able to get “walk-in service” with a smile. One of the watches was a slightly fussy Swiss Military watch that required a special tool. In under 15 minutes I was able to have everything done for $50 including 2 batteries and band adjustment. He also reset the date and time and double checked the fit after adjustment. He works carefully and it’s clear that he is a fine craftsman. It feels great to have the watches working once again. I enjoyed the conversation with the owner/repairman and shop guests. I would recommend that anyone travel to this shop if you’re looking for quick, quality watch service.