Vajar On Melrose

Vajar has cool trinkets and the owner is great man. He’s chill, isn’t pushy at all. In fact the man has great talent he makes a lot of the items himself! Most are hand made! And Johnny, well this guy is legit, he won’t try to push anything on you also, I needed a bracelet for my watch and he said eBay would have it for cheaper! I mean he could’ve easily sold me something which I could have paid more for there! But that’s how honest he is! And he’s very helpful! Customer service at its best! Awesome place with cool items for sale!

Overpriced and cheaply made cheap materials pushy owner… Honestly I really really wanted to like Vajar on Melrose. The bracelet I bought was cheap and broke (all three of them broke) and one metal bracelet put a rash on my arm. After that I even came back into the shop a couple days ago… giving him a second chance. I bought about 55 dollars worth of stuff that was probably only really worth ²⁰⁄₃₀ bucks at most. I cannot look past the fact that the materials he uses are so cheap that a bad rash broke out around my neck. So that’s two for two. I can’t support a store if I pay my good hard earned money and get a rash from the shitty metals he uses. Don’t go here. Period.

Thanks for recommending I go to eBay for a new watch band. I thought you would have tried to sell me something at a mark up. Thanks for the honesty.

Very nice guys once you start talking to them and trying to make friends!
Came in to get a bult buckle and Jacob, Fred and Johnnie were all really friendly. Got a buckle I needed and he punched the holes for it in my belt (even though I told him I could do it myself as I have my own leather working tools).
Charged me $ 10 and I left happy. I will be going back to fully browse this little boutique/​bazzar on Melrose in the next couple of days!

Been here a few years ago to get a leather watch band. Wore the HELL out of it. Time for a new one. Vajar was quite patient while I perused the mind boggling selection of really cool watch bands. Should I get rivets? Grommets? Holes? Distressed? Plain? Jeez, what color combo? It took me quite a while for my indecisive ass to make a decision. I lost patience with myself before Vajar did and just went with a somewhat basic color combination with rivets.
I have super skinny wrists for a guy so he had to slice a bit off each end of the band and add a hole to the strip. He also had to shave the strip a little flatter as the space between the pin and the watch was very narrow. Custom fitted perfection.
When I slapped on the watch and buckled it nice and tight, I felt like a new man.
Very cool guy, great experience. I will be back in a few years for a new one.

After a great experience getting tattooed on Melrose, I decided I might get a leather cuff, and waltzed in to this shop with an overwhelming selection of cuffs and leather goods. I could barely concentrate on what I was looking at, and Vajar was quick to ask me which ones I liked, and what I was looking for.
I’ll be honest, when I get approached while I’m casually perusing a shop about what I am looking for, especially when I’m the only one in the shop, I usually get turned off and often will leave if they persist to accompany my solo mission to check out their goods.
I was running out of time in my parking spot anyway, so I bid Vajar adieu and ventured towards the front when I saw one I actually liked the look of quite a lot. «I can make you something custom right now if you want»…wait, «Custom?! How much will that cost?»…“for one like that right now, 12 $”… yes, a custom cuff for only 12 $. I was certain it would be 40 $ or so considering, and I’d be haggling that price down with this man. Nope.12 $!
Vajar went on to measure my wrist, and we picked out everything I wanted. It was great, and he spent a short time working hard on my custom cuff. I then went to pay, and to my surprise he only charged me 11 $ rather than the 12 $! Sweet.
I am happy I stumbled into his shop and stuck around long enough to discover he can make this picky girl custom goods at a cheap price. He was also happy to use materials I bring in.
Quick work, nice guy!

Vajar has a lot of other shop owners talking about him. They talk about him as if he is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Yes, he does have leather bracelets, leather belts, purses and more and most of it he makes… but it can’t ALL be made by him… some of it feels like and acts like… its made in China (you know… the cheap chinese stuff).
I purchased a spiked «gold» cuff/​bracelet with snaps… it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for at all but I thought it might have potential if paired with the correct outfit in my closet.
The owner is a bit pushy. Just don’t allow him to push you around. He just can’t help himself. It’s part of the culture of where he is from.

While checking out the Melrose scene, I recently stopped into this little shop. It’s kind of a bazaar of all types of knick knacks. They sell leather goods, smoking/​hookah paraphernalia, watches, belt buckles, etc.
The staff was friendly but not pushy. The place could use a good dusting, but what bazaar couldn’t. They accept credit cards but are willing to negotiate if you offer to pay with cash.

Personally… not the biggest fan. The owner somehow got my boyfriend to spend hundreds of dollars on «rare» leather wrist bands. Funny you leave a guy alone for 2 hrs and the random things they get talked into buying…(and they say women are bad! haha) I immediately returned to the store but the guy wouldn’t take them back so we exchanged them for some better ones and some other random things. The owner was nice but kind of annoying. This was the biggest joke to me. They mostly have a bunch of junk. Some cute things… if you take the time and look. I found most of the things overpriced.

So I had just bought myself this really awesome belt buckle. All fine and dandy until you realize that a critical component of a belt buckle… is a belt to house it on.
«Elementary, my dear Watson.» Thanks Holmes, now go suck a pipe.
A few doors from the store I got the buckle in (Passage on Melrose), I stumble across Vajar on Melrose. I walk in. The old fellow working on a piece of jewelry behind the counter eyes me suspiciously. Yeah, I guess I look like a troublemaker. Or I’m just bothering him. I ask him about a belt to match the buckle and he directs me towards the back of the store, where these huge lengths of raw belt material are hanging.
Huh… interesting…
I go find a pretty cool looking brown leather belt, with studs stamped in them and a neat design. He comes over and unhooks it, brings it down, has me measure it around my middle. He gives me a couple inches (Hmm… I’d rather need to trim it than worry about needing more material man!), marks it, then cuts it down. He fiddles around with some leather tools, punching holes and stamping snaps in, and all of a sudden I have a custom made-​to-​fit belt! Sweet!
I pay, I apply my buckle, I strap the sucker on, and I walk out sporting my new gear. I believe I even had a ‘spring in my step.’ That may have been the gum I stepped in.