FAQ

I started in 1984 and have owned my own company since 1993.

If you have your piece restored by a skilled metal/silversmith it will not diminish the value, in fact I do a good deal of restoration on items people bought cheap, for the purpose of saving it from being discarded and end up with a good investment.

In 40 years of restoring, I have had to tell 95% of people who thought they had a true “Sheffield” piece, that they didn’t. True Sheffield that people think they should not touch is two sheets of silver fused onto copper and made into hollow ware pieces. The vast majority of people have silver plate, which are two different things. Having made that clarification, if an item is damaged or in need of restoration because it was miss used or neglected, restoration is advisable in my opinion.

I get the call every day from people who have been told silver can’t be restored because of the fill. I specialize in this very restoration. It is possible, it is a matter of having the knowledge and skill base to do so with out harming the item.

Absolutely Not! If you have been told this you don’t have a skilled craftsmen with knowledge of filled wares. I specialize in the restoration of filled and unfilled silver hollow ware.

Not necessarily. Many items are restored and the finish touched up. Some of my customers do not mind the loss of plate that the item already has and prefer not to have it over shined or polished. In those cases we put a “Hold Finish” on the work order.

There are a wide variety of restorations in a variety of prices. My cost is based on time and material. Each person has a different idea of what expensive is, however having an expert knowledge and skill set for how these items are made and restored makes me extremely competitive in this field.

I have heard terrible stories of restoration shops having goods for years. I have a pretty customer friendly process. It starts with the online estimate. After you send your item, I will review it, confirm the estimate with a quote and put it in the restoration process. I work each job in the order of intake. Each item is restored in my shop by me. My longest turn around is on multi process work orders, and to date my longest turn around was 20 weeks and that was during the Christmas season.

You can always ask for a target date. I make every effort to accommodate request, however it is advisable to get the process started sooner than later to avoid rush charges or disappointment.

I do get people who would like to meet me. I don’t get too many who will actually make the trip, but I do offer drop off and pick up at my home office with an established estimate by appointment.