B & C Jewelers

I had a ring that was too big. I asked to take it down so it could fit my finger. Guess what my ring fits perfectly and it was fairly inexpensive. Thanks again guys and keep up the great work!

I dropped a watch off to face the clasp repaired. After a week and nothing, I called. They said not done. After two weeks they called. I went to pick it up at the location where I dropped if off. «Oh, that’s at our other store». I drive to the other store to find the watch and while fixed after two weeks, they hadn’t bothered to clean it. No update or apology for the delay. Poor service and not nice people. Last time I go to this store.

So, we had an adequate experience at this store. I was also nervous since there are so many scathing reviews but I know of two people who have gone here for ear piercing so I was willing to give it a chance. The sales person was friendly enough on the phone but I warned my daughter that we would leave if anything skeeved or irritated me about the actual store. The store is clean though a bit old fashioned. The two ladies working were professional though definitely not super friendly. They did a fine job piecing my daughter’s ears. In response to a couple of bad reviews I would just mention 2) always confirm the price of service beforehand, not assume a watch battery will be a certain price because it always has been at other places and b) don’t expect a store to «parent» your child as long as they as following the law.

I had been into B & C a few times. Whenever I walk in, I am always greeted promptly and feel welcomed there. A few months ago, my boyfriend of 3 years proposed to me. We decided to use my mother’s wedding rings rather than purchasing new rings. These hold huge sentimental value to me and I know my mother and father would be thrilled to know that I would wear them. My dad bought these rings in 1951 when he was 19 years old and my mother wore them until her death in 2012. They served my mom and dad well for 62 years and I hope they will continue that good luck for me and my man, too.
The first place we thought of to take them and have them redesigned was B & C. In addition to my Mom’s wedding bands, she had given me several other pieces of jewelry, most of which had diamonds in them and I asked if we could include those diamonds in the redesign of Mom’s old ring.
The jeweler we worked with is PHENOMENAL! She took her time, examined all of the pieces I had, knew exactly what would work and what wouldn’t. She is insightful and soulful, she talked about my mom’s spirit and understood the sentimental/​emotional value involved. We worked together on the design (well, I mostly just stood there in amazement as she created the most beautiful ring EVER!). I finally asked her name, and it just blew me away. Her name is Angell. She is certainly appropriately named! She’s an Earth Angel and I am beyond thrilled with the final project.
And, I am not rich and this redesign was very affordable. There was a great deal of work done for a very reasonable price.
Thank you, B & C Jewelers and Angell and all of the other folks that worked on my rings. You have brought life back into something that deserves to be shiny, bright, and beautiful. My mother would be so thrilled and my dad would be so proud and that delights me.
I can assure you, I will always use B & C Jewelers for all of my jewelry needs and wants.
Lisa

The customer service here is atrocious. The staff is disinterested at best and condescending at worst. Do yourself a favor and go to any other jeweler.

I was skeptical about entering b & c jewelers in old town at first reading so many poor reviews about this business. When I first came to this area, a Washington DC pandora dangle was what I wanted to commemorate my move. I went in and the sales lady was very helpful even though the stock was low.
Four months later, the black etching on the dangle charm has rubbed off. The manager graciously refunded me back the money for the charm even though it had been 30 days after i bought the item. Deanna was very helpful over the phone as well. I would continue to return to that specific store because the customer service was great in my opinion. Jewelry is one of those things that you need to feel 100% comfortable with buying.

Parents of Teens –Beware of this store
This store will pierce your child ears or ear cartilage without parental consent. Although the law states that ear piercing is exempt from consent, do they have no morals on this issue? My 15 year old daughter walked in and got her ear pierced for the third time and also a cartilage piercing. This is wrong! I have been trying to support this local business over the years (even though they are rude to customers) but they have gone too far this time and I will not recommend them to anyone!
Shame on the staff at B & C!!!

Actually my rating is negative. Zero understanding of customer service, basic communication skills, ethics and moral. I am 36 years old senior designer and was accused of the idea I would forget to take off the ring off that I tried on but owner left me to serve someone who was behind me in line. I spent over $ 2,000 in past few years, I went back after each negative experience just to support local business.
NEVER EVER AGAIN!!!

This place is terrible. I would love to support a small local business, but this one is beyond bad. I took a fairly inexpensive watch to have a battery replace because they had a sign on the window saying same day service. After dropping of my watch and returning an hour later to pick it up i paid and left the store. Once i got to my car in the parking lot, i opened the bag to retrieve my watch and saw that the face was completely cracked across the front.
I like to pride myself on being a fairly reasonable person, and as you’ll be able to see, i don’t complain on Unilocal much. But, return a broken watch and not acknowledge what happened is beyond unacceptable.
When I returned to the counter the attendant was polite, and promised to have it fixed right away, but denied any wrong doing.
I then explained that wouldn’t it be a little silly to bring a broken watch to a shop and only have the batter replaced but leave broken glass on the front. At this point she promised to have my watch back to me free of charge by the end of the week.
Fast forward one month later…
After not hearing back from the shop, i popped in to ask about the status of my «one week» repair.
The owner claimed he was still waiting for the glass to arrive. I told him this was unacceptable and asked if i could just have my watch back and a refund for the battery.
Not only did he have a bad attitude when i asked for the return of my property, but he didn’t give it back.
He gave me $ 20 from his wallet for the battery, and another $ 20 for what he thought the watch was worth.
I told him i wasn’t surprised that his Unilocal reviews were poor. He told me you think i care about Unilocal or your business.
I was shocked.
Not even a cable company treats you like that.
Hopefully his shop will be a stationary store, or a new bagel shop in the near future. At any rate, don’t waste your time or money dealing with these folks. You’ll have better luck dealing with a sketchy jewelery stand at the mall.

Stay AWAY!
My expensive watch was ruined after they changed the battery. It was not sealed properly and got water damage so it stopped working altogether. Baume & Mercier service center said that the gaskets were broken. The repair cost me over a $ 1000!!! Before going ahead authorizing the repair I called Mark to listen to his explanation but was told that he can just put a new movement to my watch for a $ 100…
I did battery replacements there for 5 years despite noticing that they run out very quickly. Also I ordered a bracelet to be made based on my design and the stones that I had. It took 3 months to receive some badly manufactured cylinders at which point I took the stones and canceled the order. I wish I took that as a hint of their incompetence and stopped taking my watches there.
I used to like the service and a convenient location but now I will stay away. I wish I read other reviews before going there.

If I could could give them less than one star I would. I have lived in this area for 30 years and have «tried» to use this jewelry store on many occasions throughout the years. From a replacement watch battery, to resizing a ring or making a purchase Vicky and her entire staff are always exceptionally rude and condescending (as others have pointed out.)
As a family owned business I too am appalled and surprised they are still in business. Yesterday’s episode will be my last (which obviously is fine with them based on the older woman’s attitude who waited on me.) I just received a watch as a gift and needed a few links removed. Barely looking up, she said in a nasty tone, for that type of watch, that will be $ 30. Really? Other places I had it done as a complimentary service or minimal fee. I said, don’t bother as it seems you don’t want to either, and walked out. She said nothing and went about her busy. (BTW, the store was empty with the exception of someone before me who dropped off 3 watches for new batteries.)
I realize my experience was not as bad as the others whom have written about the same poor service but their bait and switch tactics and/​or totally misrepresentation or up charging is just something that should not go unpunished.
How they stay in business is incredulous to me. Why they don’t care dumbfounds me and how they haven’t been sued for stealing amazes me.
I will tell people to «beware» as they walk in the store each and every time I am around their place. Maybe that will at least alert people to the rip-​off artists and dishonorable people they are.

If you’re under 60 B&C doesn’t see the need to acknowledge you let alone wait on you. We went in to buy wedding bands and after 20 minutes hadn’t been greeted let alone helped. Stupid us for wanting to support a local business.

This is what I get for not checking reviews here 1^st, but hey it was just a quick watch repair right?
I brought a watch in to be repaired b/​c the crystal had cracked. They took it in and told me 2 weeks, no problem. 2 weeks later I call, they tell me it should be another few days. 3^rd week goes by, I call, get the same story. Finally, at the 4^th week, right as I’m ready to just get my watch back, regardless of whether they fixed it or not, they have it ready. Apparently they had ordered the wrong size crystal at 1^st and had to re-​order… This isn’t even a weird brand, it’s one they are an authorized dealer for, this should be a big clue.
I’d hate to see how the 1^st crystal fit, b/​c when i got it back the new crystal is clearly a bit small for the watch face and doesn’t fit perfectly, just «good enough to work». I noticed this and raised my concern that the watch may not seal out water now, and the the lady tells me the watch isn’t waterproof anyways so it doesn’t matter. I argue that it definitely is waterproof, it even says so on the casing. She argues its just water resistant, so I can’t use it in the shower or to swim… Apparently they feel it can only get lightly misted by the summer dew, even though the casing is stamped as resistant to 5 ATM, which is roughly equivalent to 150 feet underwater.
In addition to all this, not one apology for the lateness or the ill fitting crystal, a put-​upon attitude each time I called to check the status after they blew their latest estimate, and arguing with you while not knowing what the hell they are talking about. The only way I’ll go back is when I surely have to go demand they cover a new watch after their crappy repair fails and lets in water.

I’ve had nothing but exceptional experiences here. I bought my fiancé’s engagement ring and wedding band here and they’re beautiful.
I did a pretty terrible job of estimating her ring size (I wanted the proposal to be a complete surprise), and thus we’ve had to have it resized three times now. Haven’t been charged once!
In addition, there was an «incident» where the ring was crushed and deformed in a garage door. Fixed that with no charge.
Finally, one of the small diamonds on the ring fell out randomly while she was at work. We took it in and they replaced the diamond, as well as restructured the bottom of the ring which had thinned out due to all of the resizings. No charge!
I get the impression that they want the ring to be perfect and for us to completely satisfied. They’ve succeeded!

I went there to replace the batteries on our movado watches. Service was quick and staff was friendly. Our watches still work! Plus i spent 40 percent less than what I spent when I got it done in Fairfax.

I went there to make a Pandora purchase as they were the closest Pandora location. This was the absolute worst experience I have ever had at a jewelery store. The associates were acting as if they did not want my money nor my business. They were rude, pretentious, and all over unhelpful. I would not go back for any Pandora or other purchases.

I’ve been here a few times, once for a battery replacement (my first time here), a few times with a coworker, and once to do some adjustments to my wedding bands and my husband’s band. That’s the most memorable experience so here’s the one-​star story with an update at the end that gives it the second star.
My «One-​Star» Story
We purchased his band and my engagement ring from a jeweler in Maryland, and we were happy with him and his work but sick of traveling 1.5 hours every time to see him. Since B+C is right down the street, I figured it would be an easy place to go to get some «simple» things done.
I had little metal balls installed on the interior of both my engagement ring and wedding band (which is my grandmother’s from 1940) so they wouldn’t flip around when my hands were cold. Turns out the balls didn’t do anything for the flipping and it just made it incredibly painful to take these rings off.
One day I burned my finger on a pan so while I had my hand submerged in cold water I thought, «It’s now or never to get these rings off.» I pulled them off and told Husband we were going to the jeweler the next day to get them fixed.
Husband’s band was always just a little too big, so he kept mentioning how he wanted it to be sized more properly. Since I was taking mine in, he took his in too.
We spoke with a sales associate and a jeweler and explained the problems. The jeweler was a little crass in his conversation saying «Whoever tells girls to get these in their rings should be shot!» We explained the significance of my rings, and also very explicitly said «These rings are engraved here, here, and here. The balls do not touch the engravings. Please simply cut them off and file them down so I can put the ring on without scratching myself.» They seemed to understand my request and said they would do their best.
For my husband’s band, instead of remeasuring his finger to find the appropriate size, the jeweler said, «Take it down a half size.» Since that was his professional opinion, that’s what we did.
I was told it would take 10 days to do this, however I requested anything sooner since I felt naked without my bands on.
I called on day 10 to check on my rings since I hadn’t heard anything, and I was told the rings were still not ready. I basically said, «Well it’s been 10 days and I want them back,» and she said she’d check with the jeweler. She called back and told me to come in at noon.
I came back. The rings looked beautiful. Stunning even. Cleaner than when I got them. With one problem. The engravings on both rings were polished clear out. The woman who gave me my rings was very sympathetic, very clearly understanding I was upset. She couldn’t do anything though, so she had another woman speak with me. This woman was a hard ass and totally not interested in my emotional situation.
She told me that they had to use heat to get the balls off and that because it turned the metal black, they had to polish it. That took out the engraving. She did not offer any discount, nor any sympathy, and I was very very upset. I paid $ 180 for my bands and my husband’s band and went back to work because what else was I going to do?
I discussed this with my husband when I got home. Turns out his band also still didn’t fit and he was livid about the service I received.
My «Two-​Star» story
We went back to the store the next evening and spoke with who I assume is a manager (Barbara?). She listened to our story, and refunded the entire price of the services, and offered to engrave them again for free. I had initially been told by the angry woman that to engrave them would cost me money and would be done in-​house with a template, so they couldn’t do the same font as my grandmother’s ring. Barbara (sorry if that’s not her name but it’s all I can remember right now) told me they had a guy who hand engraves off site and he would do my rings for me. We figured, What more harm could be done? and agreed.
I brought the rings to the jeweler (located in the Torpedo Factory) and showed him the picture I had of the engraving in my grandmother’s ring (we took it a year ago when trying to figure out what it said). I also wrote out what was engraved in my engagement ring. He said it would take 7 days.
He called me back in 1 – 2 days (I can’t recall exactly now) with my rings ready to go. They were beautiful. He did a fantastic job. It isn’t the exact engraving from my grandmother’s ring, but if you didn’t know, you wouldn’t know.
Without the owner/​manager and this fix, I would completely hate this store. But because she understood their slogan (something about the client’s happiness being their business), I was taken care of the way it should have been taken care of the first time. She even called to check in and make sure I was happy with the engraving service. She made it as good as it could be and I appreciate her for that.

I should have NEVER walked in there. My husband and I said we’d never be back after a previously horrible experience. But what the heck, I just need a battery for my watch right?
They broke the hands off, scratched the sapphire face, and damaged the watch band. Then they refused to acknowledge their mistakes. After my husband called them they offered to send the watch out to the manufacturer for repair. My husband told me to just pick up the «repaired» watch and walk out. The «repaired» watch was not my own, it is a cheap knock off, or gods know what. Either way I have clear photos of my watch and what I picked up was not it. They did screw my old watch back on though, so the numbers matched. Nice.
You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You are truly a bunch of unhelpful people. (wow, that was painful…)

I had an old Seiko watch with a bad battery, but the replacement failed to fix the timepiece. There was no charge for 15 minutes of skilled labor. I’ll be back!

Yeesh! Look at all these one-​stars reviews you’ve gotten. Are you readin’ ‘em, B&C? They’re pretty consistent in their complaints… fortunately for me, I’ve not encountered the condescension the other reviewers almost *all* speak of. But you’re a small, locally-​owned business that relies on word of mouth. If this spreads you’re done!
I brought husband’s and my wedding and engagement bands in for a down-​sizing and was shocked when I was quoted over $ 300 for three bands. «You’re taking precious metal *out*, not putting it *in*!» I exclaimed. «You’re right,» the sales associate said, «I was looking at the up-​sizing pricing page.» Was that an honest mistake, or an attempt to swindle me? Can’t be sure. Corrected price was still over $ 200 tho, which I think is a tad outrageous — again, the metal’s comin’ out not goin’ in. Not to mention a 10 day wait because the rings are sent away for sizing. Aren’t you a jewelry store? Shouldn’t you be able to do this on-​site?
I do appreciate you calling me to let me know the rings were ready instead of me having to call you, like you initially said I’d have to do. I also appreciate the high quality of work you did — the seams are completely invisible, and you polished the bands and diamond til they shone like the top o’ the Chrysler Building («Annie,» anyone?). Still, my mother had a ring resized here and afterward she lost *two* diamonds because the prongs’ integrity were compromised in the resizing (tho you did replace the stones free of charge) — crossing my fingers this doesn’t happen with mine.
You’re a pretty store with some really beautiful inventory, and I’m happy with the work you performed. But I’m wary of patronizing you frequently because of so many negative reviews…