Jewellery Repair and Custom Work for Port Moody Residents
A good share of the repair work on our bench comes from Port Moody, and the pattern is usually the same: a ring that has stopped fitting, a chain that broke at the clasp, a watch that died, or a box of inherited pieces nobody has worn in twenty years. This guide covers what a local goldsmith can do for you, how long each job takes, what has to leave the building, and what to bring.
Where we are, and how you get here from Port Moody
Vanhess is at 2929 Barnet Highway, Unit 2424, in Coquitlam. That address is Coquitlam Centre, so we are indoors, with mall parking and washrooms, which matters if you are bringing a child or a parent along for what might be a twenty minute conversation about a ring.
The road connection from Port Moody is simple. Barnet Highway runs along the south shore of Burrard Inlet, enters Port Moody, and meets St Johns Street. East of there the road carries the Barnet Highway name again and runs to its junction with Highway 7 in Coquitlam. One road, whether you set out from Moody Centre, Newport Village, or Suter Brook. We are not going to print a drive time, because traffic on that stretch at nine in the morning is nothing like two in the afternoon. Check a live map before you leave.
By transit, Port Moody has two stations on the Millennium Line. Moody Centre station sits about 200 metres north of St Johns Street and also serves the West Coast Express. Inlet Centre station is at 2300 Barnet Hwy, with Newport Village and Suter Brook immediately north of it. From either one, the line continues east toward Coquitlam.
Why an on-site bench changes the experience
Plenty of places accept jewellery repairs. Many of them are a counter and a courier: your ring goes in an envelope, travels to a central workshop, gets worked on by someone you will never speak to, and comes back in two or three weeks. That model works and it is cheaper to run. It also means your ring spends days in transit, and nobody at the counter can answer a question about the work itself.
We have a goldsmith at a bench in the same unit. The piece stays in the building for most jobs, which means less handling and fewer chances for something to go missing. You can also talk to the person doing the work. If you want the prongs filed lower because the ring keeps catching on wool, say so to the goldsmith rather than writing it on a form and hoping it gets read. And a loupe check takes a few minutes at the counter, which is what catches the problems that decide the price: a shank already worn thin, a hairline crack in an old solder joint, a stone that is already moving.
The repairs we do most
Ring sizing is the job we do more than any other. Fingers change with heat, with salt, and with the years, and a ring that fit at the wedding may not fit now. Sizing down is the simpler direction. Sizing up thins the shank, so a ring already worn thin underneath needs the shank rebuilt before it can grow.
Prong retipping comes next. Prongs wear from the outside in over years of ordinary contact, and the tip gets thin before anything feels loose. Retipping adds metal back. It is a small job caught early and an expensive one caught late, because late means the stone is gone.
Chain and clasp repair covers a broken link, a stretched jump ring, a clasp spring that no longer closes, or a soldered join that failed. On a fine chain the honest answer is sometimes that the chain has worn along its whole length, and fixing one link only moves the next break a few weeks out.
Pearl restringing matters more than people expect. Silk stretches and absorbs skin oil and perfume, so a strand worn often needs restringing every year or two. Knots between the pearls stop the whole strand scattering if the thread goes.
Stone tightening is the quiet one. A stone that moves under fingernail pressure is grinding its own seat wider every day it stays that way. Our post on the warning signs of a loose stone covers what to feel for at home.
Rhodium plating applies to white gold, which is yellow gold mixed with white alloys and then plated with rhodium for the bright white finish. That plating wears off with time, which is why an old white gold ring looks warm and yellowish near the bottom of the shank. Watch battery and strap work rounds out the list, and both are usually done while you wait.
Realistic turnaround, and what pushes a job longer
These are our own timings, from our own bench, in a normal week rather than the middle of December.
| Job | Typical turnaround | On site | What makes it longer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watch battery | While you wait | Yes | Water resistance testing |
| Strap or bracelet sizing | While you wait | Yes | Ordering matching links |
| Prong check and clean | While you wait | Yes | Nothing, this one is free |
| Plain band sizing | A few days | Yes | A worn shank |
| Sizing with stones | About a week | Yes | Stones set around the band |
| Prong retipping | About a week | Yes | A head needing replacement |
| Chain or clasp repair | Same day to a few days | Yes | An unusual link style |
| Stone tightening | A few days | Yes | A seat that must be recut |
| Pearl restringing | One to two weeks | Sometimes | Long knotted strands |
| Rhodium plating (white gold) | Ask at the counter | Ask at the counter | Plating tanks and waste handling |
| Custom piece | Four to eight weeks | Partly | Casting and approval rounds |
Two things stretch all of these. December is the first, because everyone remembers the broken clasp at the same time. The second is a piece that hides a problem. An old ring repaired three times before often has to be partly undone before it can be fixed properly, and we would rather tell you that on day two than hand back a repair that fails.
What to bring
Bring the piece and every part of it, including any stone that fell out, sealed in a small bag. Bring an appraisal or receipt if you have one, because it saves us testing the metal. Bring photo identification, since we record who left what. If the piece belongs to someone else and you need a size, bring a ring they already wear on the right finger.
And bring the deadline. An anniversary, a flight, a wedding. We would rather turn a job down than miss a date you cared about.
Appraisals and custom design
Appraisals are a separate service from repair, and the reason most people need one is insurance. An insurer wants a document with the metal, the karat, the stone weights and qualities, photographs, and a replacement value, prepared by someone qualified. Our post on what insurance appraisals actually require covers the detail.
Custom design is the other half of the bench. It usually starts with a conversation, a drawing, and a written quote, then a wax or a digital model you approve before anything is cast. Four to eight weeks is the honest range for most pieces. If you are looking at rings specifically, our guide on buying an engagement ring in the Tri-Cities walks through the questions worth asking anywhere you shop.
Rings in our cases
A sample of what is in the shop right now, in case you are coming in for a repair and want to look while you wait.
Key Takeaways
- Barnet Highway runs from the south shore of Burrard Inlet through Port Moody, meets St Johns Street, and carries on east to Highway 7 in Coquitlam, so the trip to 2929 Barnet Highway follows one road.
- Watch batteries, strap sizing, prong checks and cleaning are while-you-wait jobs. Sizing with stones and prong retipping run about a week.
- Ask at the counter which jobs happen on the bench here and which need a specialist. A shop that answers that question plainly is telling you how it works.
- Bring the piece, any loose stone in a sealed bag, an appraisal or receipt if you have one, photo identification, and your deadline.
- A goldsmith on site means your ring stays in the building and you can tell the person doing the work exactly what is bothering you about it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far is your Coquitlam shop from Port Moody?
We are at 2929 Barnet Highway in Coquitlam, inside Coquitlam Centre. The road connection is direct. Barnet Highway runs along the south shore of Burrard Inlet into Port Moody, where it meets St Johns Street, then takes the Barnet Highway name again on the eastern side before ending at Highway 7 in Coquitlam. So from most of Port Moody you follow one road and arrive. We would rather you check a live map for the drive time than trust a number from us, because traffic on that stretch changes through the day. If you take transit, Inlet Centre station sits at 2300 Barnet Hwy, and Coquitlam Central is the station closest to us. Call +1 (604) 653-6449 before you come if you want to be sure the goldsmith is at the bench that day.
What can you do the same day?
Watch batteries, most strap and bracelet link adjustments, cleaning and polishing, and a prong check under the loupe are all while-you-wait jobs. Simple chain and clasp repairs on gold often finish the same day if you arrive early enough and the bench is not backed up. Ring sizing can sometimes be done the same day on a plain band with no stones, though we do not promise it on arrival. What pushes a job past same-day is stone setting, anything needing rhodium plating, and any repair where we want the piece to cool and settle before we hand it back. Rushing a solder joint to hit a deadline is how joints fail six months later. Tell us your deadline when you drop the piece off and we will tell you honestly whether it fits.
What does it mean that the goldsmith works on site?
It means the bench is in the same building as the counter, so your piece does not travel to be worked on and you can speak to the person doing the work. That matters for two practical reasons. The first is time: a job that does not need to be packed, shipped, queued at another location and shipped back is simply faster, which is why prong checks, cleaning, watch batteries and strap sizing are while-you-wait jobs here. The second is judgement. When a goldsmith opens up an old piece and finds a thin shank or a cracked stone seat, somebody can walk out and show you the problem before deciding how to proceed, rather than phoning you from another city. If a particular job needs a specialist we do not keep in the building, we will say so at the counter and the turnaround we quote will already account for it.
Do you resize rings, and what are the limits?
Yes, and sizing is the most common job on our bench. A plain gold band moves several sizes in either direction without trouble. Where it gets harder is a ring with stones set all the way around, called a full eternity band, because sizing it changes the spacing that the stones sit in. Sizing up also thins the shank, so a ring already worn thin at the bottom may need the shank rebuilt first. Tension settings, some titanium, and most tungsten cannot be sized at all, because the metal will not take solder or the design depends on exact tension. Rose gold can crack if it is worked cold, so it needs careful heating. We wrote a longer piece on what can and cannot be resized if you want the full detail before you come in.
What should I bring with me?
Bring the piece itself, and anything that came off it. If a stone fell out and you have it, bring it in a small sealed bag or a folded paper packet, because a loose stone in a pocket gets lost. If you have an appraisal, a receipt, or an insurance document, bring that too, since it tells us the metal, the karat, and the stone details without us having to test. Photos help when the damage is intermittent, such as a clasp that opens on its own. Bring a piece of government photo identification, because we record who left what. If the ring is for someone else and you need a size, bring a ring they already wear on the correct finger. Our guide on measuring ring size at home covers the rest.
Can you make a custom piece from my old gold?
Yes, and people from Port Moody ask us this often, usually with inherited jewellery that nobody wears. There are two honest routes. The first is to reuse the stones and buy fresh metal, which is what we recommend most of the time, because old gold carries solder from previous repairs and that contamination shows up as porosity in a casting. The second is to melt the old gold and refine it, which costs more and takes longer, though some people want the original metal in the new piece for family reasons and that is a fair thing to want. Either way we start with a drawing and a written quote before any metal is cut. Our custom jewellery page explains how the design process runs.
How do you price a repair before I commit?
We quote before we start, in writing, and we do not begin work until you agree to the number. For common jobs the quote happens at the counter in a few minutes. For anything involving stone setting, a rebuilt shank, or a piece we have not seen before, we ask to keep it for a day so the goldsmith can put it under the loupe and check for problems that are invisible from across a counter, such as old repairs, hairline cracks, or a stone that is already loose. If we find something during the work that changes the price, we stop and call you. Nobody should collect a piece and discover a bigger bill than the one they agreed to. Our Coquitlam repair guide lists the common jobs and what drives their cost.
Do you do watch batteries and straps?
Yes, both, and both are usually while-you-wait. A battery change on a standard quartz watch takes minutes, and we test the new cell and reseat the gasket rather than just snapping the back on. If your watch is water resistant and you want that rating kept, say so, because it needs a pressure test after the back goes on and that is a separate step. Straps and bracelets we can shorten, lengthen if we have matching links, or replace outright. Bring the watch with you rather than describing it over the phone, since the lug width and the case back type decide what is possible. We covered the details in our post on watch battery and strap service.
Do you perform piercings?
No. We sell piercing jewellery, including implant-grade titanium and solid gold pieces, and we are glad to help you choose a size, a gauge, and a style that suits a healed piercing. We do not pierce, and there is no piercer working here. For the piercing itself, go to a professional piercing studio that does it every day, works in a sterile room, and can advise on placement for your anatomy. Once a piercing is fully healed and you want to change what sits in it, that is where we help. Bring the jewellery you currently wear so we can match the gauge and the thread type, because the wrong thread pattern will damage a threaded post. If you are unsure whether a piercing is healed enough to change, ask the studio that did it.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Barnet Highway, route through Burnaby, Port Moody and Coquitlam
- Wikipedia: Moody Centre station, location and West Coast Express service
- Wikipedia: Inlet Centre station, address and surrounding neighbourhoods
- Wikipedia: Coquitlam Centre, 2929 Barnet Highway
- City of Port Moody official website
Data sourced September 2026. Turnaround times describe our own practice at the Coquitlam bench and will run longer through December. Road and transit details come from the sources above. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
Visit Vanhess
We are a family-run studio at 2929 Barnet Highway in Coquitlam, and we designed and made most of what sits in our cases. If you are coming from Port Moody, the drive is one road. Bring the ring, the broken chain, or the box you have not opened since it was left to you, and we will look at it with you at the counter and tell you plainly what it needs. Prong checks and cleaning are free while you wait. Call us at +1 (604) 653-6449.
