Owner and master bench jeweler, Chris McRae, has been crafting fine jewelry and providing top quality repair services since 1970.  Prior to opening his own jewelry store, Chris worked for a major class ring manufacturing company.  His skills in metal work, engineering and unique design are well known and respected.

Our shop is commited to the design, fabrication and repair of fine quality jewelry.  We also well known for our exceptional customer service. We take the time to understand your jewelry needs, then we bring your ideas to life. 

McRae's Fine Jewelry prides itself on providing  honest information to our customers.  Our job is to educate our clients on all types of fine jewelry, how to best spend your jewelry dollar, and how take care of your jewelry for years to come.

You should expect nothing less from your jeweler.

We specialize in creating unique jewelry designs,  and we use a finer grade of diamonds as well as exceptional quality colored gemstones.  In most cases, we hand pick our gems from our dealers, looking for the most unusual cuts, vivid colors, and brightness. They really have to "jump out of the box" to get our attention.  That is why we usually only have a single quantity of our custom jewelry items.

Set your standards above the norm.  Our finished jewelry has to be both beautiful and well built.

Care and Maintenence of Your Jewelry

Have your jewelry cleaned and checked regularly.  Just as you have your car serviced, your jewelry needs to be checked for loose stones, worn prongs and other wear issues.  Think about it, you wear it every day.  Bang here, bump there and your stones can come loose.  Regular jewelry checks help catch problems before you lose a stone or need a very expensive repair. 

Bracelets need to have their clasps checked and the clasps often need adjustment.  Chains should have their clasps and end rings checked for wear. 

Pearls are beautiful but delicate gems.  Care should be taken in their handling and wear to prevent losing the outer layer, or nacre, of the pearl.  Store them in an area where other jewelry cannot rub against them.  Put pearls on after you have applied perfume and hair spray.  After wearing, rinse your pearls in warm water and dry them on a towel.   Pearls need to be re-tied periodically as the silk thread will wear through over time. 

Jewelry Repair

Over the life of your jewelry, expect some normal repair and maintenance charges.  Most stones are held into mounting by prongs.  The prongs will wear down much the same way the tread wears off of a tire.  Depending on the amount of wear, a stone mounting can be "retipped", adding years to the wear of the jewelry.  However, a stone mounting may have to be replaced with a new head or other appropriate setting.

Some jewelry repair is very basic.  Other repairs may require extensive rebuilding, such as estate jewelry restoration.  When we evaluate a piece of jewelry, our goal is to provide you with a complete list of what can and should be done to bring an item back to it's ideal condition.  We do not recommend "band-aid" repair.  It will not last and you are throwing away your money.  Frankly, we will not take on a job if we cannot provide the proper repairs.  It is our reputation out the door, if we do. 

Few repairs can be preformed while you wait.  Jewelry repairs do take time and here is why.  Most jewelry needs a through cleaning before any repairs which use heat can be done.  Jewelry and gemstones can be ruined by baking on dirt and debris during a heat solder repair.  Proper repair techniques take a little longer, but we think you will agree - it is worth an extra day to do it right. 

Chris McRae is a skilled bench jeweler with over 30 years of experience.   Our repairs are conducted in our shop to our quality standards.  It makes a big difference.

We will be adding extra features over the next few months, so come back regularly. You can contact us at: McRae's Fine Jewelry, chrismcrae@verizon.net,  or by phone at (940) 566-1049. We are located at: 714 Fort Worth Drive , Denton, Texas, 76201

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