American Jewelers

I absolutely love this family owned business! I have bought several pieces of jewelry including my favorite ruby ring and have had my watches repaired and batteries replaced. Family owned and operated located in the heart of the Gaslamp this is a great place to pick out a piece for a gift for your mother or wife or whomever you hold dear to your heart. Reasonably priced and masters of their craft I absolutely love this jeweler!

Next to wisdom, laughs, and the occasional beating, a Seiko watch is one of the most memorable gifts I’ve received from my pops. It’s not terribly expensive or rare, but it’s stylish and better looking than any watch I’ve bought. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked for the past few years. I assumed it needed a battery, since every «broken» watch I’ve owned has only needed a battery, and took it to American Jewelers (Gaslamp District, San Diego) in hopes they’d have it ready for my wedding, which was, at the time, about a week away.
I dropped it off and a guy who I figured to be the owner (older man, friendly enough, walks and talks like he owns the place) explained that he didn’t have the battery in stock and would have to place an order. It would cost me $ 27, well above the $ 5.99 battery replacement advertised on shop’s window, but an amount I was willing to play because the watch needed a «special battery” – his words.
I stopped in about a week later and was told that the watch was still not working and would need to be sent out for repair, which would cost me an additional $ 62. No problem, I thought. It won’t be ready for my wedding, but at least I’d have it fixed.
Close to three weeks later, I received a call explaining that the watch was ready for pickup but was not able to be fixed. I was a bit disappointed, but made sure to thank the employee for trying. Hell, it wasn’t his fault.
I then took the watch to another jeweler, who told me that the watch didn’t even have a battery in it. Damn, maybe my «special ($ 27!) battery» was invisible to the naked eye or something. I asked the jewelry to look again and he confirmed that there was no battery in the watch.
I went back to American Jewelers and asked for an explanation. The young dude (I never saw the older guy again) explained that the person they sent the watch to for repair must have taken the battery out. He didn’t offer an apology, but did put a replacement battery in the watch, which was somehow in stock despite having to be special ordered during my first visit. Minutes later, I asked him to remove the battery. After all, it was a «special battery» and if my watch wasn’t going to work I might as well resell the expensive battery on eBay and get about $ 15 of the $ 27 I spent, maybe.
Well, I looked online and found out the «special battery» was just a regular ol’ $ 4 watch battery and widely available. I called American Jewelers and asked why I was charged so much for the battery, relative to its actual cost and the purported $ 5.99 watch replacement deal. The young staffer explained that they paid $ 15 for the battery, plus there was an installation fee, which was not previously mentioned. Shaisty, man!
Best case scenario, the service at American Jewelers is bad and they don’t double-​check the work done by repair people to whom they outsource. And perhaps they try to make an extra $ 20 or so dollars on watch batteries. Worst case scenario, they’re up to something shady. Who knows? But I won’t be taking any of my other watches there for «special» batteries.

Horrible experience! I was quoted $ 25 on the phone to attach 5 charms to a bracelet. I was told it would be ready in a couple days, it was not ready for over a week. Anyhow, I went to pick it up and saw they had stripped the color from one of my charms when cleaning it. When I pointed this out I was told it would be fixed and to come back in a couple days. I was called a few days later to tell me it was done. I asked what the total would be and was told $ 60. When I said that it was wrong I was transferred to someone else (I am assuming the owner) who was extremely rude and started yelling at me. He told me that they had done additional services and that it would now cost $ 60. After arguing that I was not paying for services that I did not ask for and never approved, I was told to come get my bracelet and never come back.
My bracelet did look good but it was not worth the headache and multiple trips to the store. If you are going to go here, make sure you get your price and requested services in writing first because he will try to add to it without telling you.

These guys moved over to 3^rd and Island. I have a watch battery that needed to be replaced. The man was super friendly and fixed it in under 4 minutes. I was in and out and best of all it only cost $ 8. Great deal and nice service!

A few weeks ago my bf proposed and of course the jewelry store where he bought it messed up my ring size and it didn’t fit ! I work down the st on Island and we walked over to see if he could resize it (late afternoon close to closing time for the day) and the owner accepted to resize since I was so anxious to get it on my finger and the price was extremely reasonable, 20 minutes after it was on my finger. Anything I need done in the future I definitely know where I am going, highly recommend him

I had a gold necklace that my girlfriend bought me and I accidentally broke. I went onto Unilocal to see what jewelry repair places were good in my area (downtown). Bert Levi got the highest stars so I called them first. The guy who answered was extremely rude and sounded busy. I asked if he could help me with a quote. He told me, «I doubt it, but tell me anyways». I laughed and just hung up. Then I decided to just walk over to the jewelry store and repair place on the corner by my condo. I walked in and the owners literally could not have been more friendly and helpful. He had no issue giving me a quote and stopping everything he was doing to be helpful and friendly. The location is amazing, right down from Tabac and around the corner from Fluxx. Super cheap prices, Tons of parking and none of the stress of walking into the diamond exchange building or the unnecessary prices you pay at the mall (can’t blame those guys, mall rent is crazy so they have to charge more).
Anyways I would highly recommend American Jewelers.
They must have changed locations because they are now at 302 Island Ave # 103 San Diego CA 92 101.

They give verbal estimates, which is awesome. They are extremely honest, they charged me a fraction of what anyone else was going to charge me to fix several pieces of my gold jewelry.
Great service and great jewelry repair.