Why You Should Let Us Make Your Next Nameplate

Nameplate jewelry seems to have made a major come back that is bigger and better than before. With all the new font styles and designs to choose from it’s no wonder that everyone wants a new piece of name jewelry. All the top celebrities can be seen showing off their latest and greatest designs on the red carpet. Whether it’s the Grammy’s, Oscars, Tony’s, Emmy’s or MTV’s award shows you can be sure you’ll see your favorite celeb rockin’ a piece of name jewelry, especially the “Big Bamboo” style name earrings. Those seem to be a fav for many pop and rap stars. The obsession with name jewelry goes back decades. I can recall when I first came on to the jewelry scene back in 1986, there wasn’t enough hours in the day to cut out all the nameplates by hand. I still recall the jewelers complaining about how much their hands would hurt from cutting out all the name jewelry. I clearly remember one Christmas season, one of my jewelers coming up to me and showing me their hands. It appeared that his skin was peeling from cutting so many nameplates. I could not believe my eyes.

I remember asking him if he was in pain or if he could continue? His answer was “I’m okay, but I need gloves to continue working”. I wasn’t sure which gloves would be appropriate, but I remember running down the block to the sporting good store to purchase a pair of weight lifting gloves, the ones where the fingers were cut off and had lots of heavy duty padding for the palms of your hands. This was a life saver for the jeweler and for us. Without the gloves he would not have been able to continue, and we would have had several angry customers on our hands. I could not even imagine having to tell all those people who ordered name jewelry for the holidays that we could not deliver. That would have been devastating to our reputation. In all my years of making jewelry for people, I think if I missed a deadline for one or two orders that would be a lot.

Nothing is more disappointing to me than not being able to make a deadline. People count on us to do the job on time and properly all the time. Most of the time the people purchasing name jewelry are buying for someone else as a gift for a special occasion or to commemorate a milestone. We want AJ’s Jewelry to be your one stop shop for all your custom jewelry needs. We want you to know that we will do everything possible to make sure that you are 100% satisfied with your new name jewelry and other jewelry you purchase from us. 

We have an excellent reputation with the community, Better Business Bureau and other local agencies. Come to our showroom and experience for yourself what makes AJ’s Jewelry a special place in Ridgewood. I have a little inside joke I would tell clients when they are leaving, “shhhh, we are Ridgewood’s best kept secret”. People who shop with us will fully understand. When people come here, there is no monkey business like you get in some other stores. All our jewelry comes with an unconditional money back guarantee that your jewelry is going to be 14kt gold. All our staff has vast knowledge of the jewelry industry and is ready to answer all your questions. Read our Google Reviews and see why AJ’s jewelry has been Ridgewood’s premier jeweler since 1988.

You do not get incredible reviews with terrible customer service and selling jewelry that does not withstand the test of time. I know our jewelry must hold up to withstand the test of time because we plan to be in business for decades to come and there is no hiding for us. We must sell you the very best quality jewelry available on the market to make sure you will want to come back time and time again to celebrate that special moment in your life.

We know it is very difficult to put your trust in a place you have not shopped in before; therefore we work extra hard at making your shopping experience a positive experience. We know we must earn your trust. We know just because we’ve been here for over thirty years, that it is not a good enough reason for you to trust us. I always believed that trust is to be earned and not taken for granted. I have built my name and reputation on this principal. It is a principal I have passed down to my children as well.

I hope you decide to stop in and take advantage of all the services we offer the community besides making custom name jewelry. Find out why so many people travel from all over the tri state area to visit us. It’s not for our good looks, I can assure you. People work very hard for their money and we want you to get exactly what you paid for and deserve.

We are aware that when you are looking for a custom nameplate necklace you have lots of choices, so how can you be sure on where to purchase your next custom nameplate, nameplate earrings or name ring from? The answer is obvious, AJ’s Jewelry. Why? good question. Here are some answers to those concerns you may have.

AJ’s Jewelry has been Ridgewood’s premier jeweler since 1988. Having over thirty years of custom jewelry experience goes a long way and we would like to share the benefits with you. There is no substitute for experience. All our custom name jewelry is made on premise by our master jeweler. Each name is sketched out by hand and can be shown to the client for approval before work begins. This eliminates any and all size and spelling errors.

Our custom nameplate jewelry is always delivered on time because we do not have to send the work out to be performed by a middle man. We manufacture all our nameplates and name earrings in our shop. This also ensures you receive the very best price possible.

One of the things I love about making custom nameplates is the freedom to design whatever the client can imagine. This often leads to some interesting adjectives amongst other things. Mixing and matching fonts, tails, tops, and textures are a few of the things you can do at our jewelry store. You can even use someone’s own handwriting to create a custom nameplate, name earring or name ring.

Another good reason for you to purchase your next piece of custom jewelry from us is we control the thicknesses and weights of each piece of jewelry we create. This allows the customer to stay within budget and have creative freedom on how sturdy a piece of jewelry can be made. There are many ways to create custom jewelry and sometimes we need to make things either a little lighter or heavier depending on the client. Obviously, the thicker and heavier we make a piece of jewelry the more it will cost and longer it will last. We usually offer three different thicknesses for our name plates. The first thickness is called single thickness, which is usually .5 millimeters, most people order the single thickness nameplate from our jewelry store. The next step up is double thickness which is 1 millimeter thick. Our double thickness name plates have very little to no bend at all. Our triple thickness name plates are usually 1.25 to 1.5 millimeters thick. We normally use this thickness when making custom name plates with diamonds. This allows the stones to be set without having the tips of the diamonds poke you on your skin.

Many people bring in name plates with diamonds sticking out of the back because the jeweler did not take the time to explain what would occur if you do not make the nameplate the proper thickness or the jeweler simply does not care about you, your comfort or your hard earned money.

Let’s take a moment to discuss all the different finishes you can choose from when designing your new custom nameplate. One of the most popular finishes is called Florentine and diamond cut.

This finish has a dark textured look, a sandy feel to it and has bright lines going through it to give you the illusion that there are diamonds in it, the name diamond cut is used because we use a diamond tip in a hand held power hand piece that spins the tip around at a high rate of speed which creates the cuts. The second most popular finish on a nameplate is called bead work and rhodium.

This finish is spectacular because the entire name plate can look like it is filled with diamonds and not have one diamond in it. This finish has been a real-life saver for many parents whose kids want their nameplates to have diamonds in it but are either not responsible enough for a piece of jewelry with diamonds in it or it is over their budget. We use the same bead work and rhodium finish when we add diamonds to your plate as well. When we use a combination of both bead work and rhodium and set beautiful sparkly diamonds in your nameplate the results are quite remarkable. The last finish I am going to discuss with you is the simplest one to do and is a timeless classic. Can you guess what finish it may be?

If you guessed high polish finish, then give yourself a pat on the back because you would be correct. This mirror shiny look is extremely popular with people of all ages and never goes out of style. People love the unmistakable reflective luster and shine of real gold. If you’re not sure which finish will look best with your new nameplate, there’s no need to worry, our staff will help you choose the right finish for your next nameplate.

Did you know our custom nameplates, name earrings, and name rings are stamped and trademarked with the official AJ’s logo and 14kt marking?

By law these markings should be on the back of any name jewelry you purchase in the United States. If you purchased jewelry either in a brick and mortar store or an online establishment there should be an indication whether the jewelry is 10kt, 14kt, 18kt, platinum, or silver. These markings should be on the item. Sometimes you will see 417 or 585 stamped on pieces of jewelry. This is another way of indicating karat content for a piece of jewelry. For instance, 417 equals 10 karat gold, 585 equals 14 karat gold, and if you see a 950 or 985 stamp that would represent platinum. If you see a 925 stamp on something that is supposed to be gold do not purchase it. It is silver with a gold overlay. There are many devious people out there trying to fool the public, do not become a victim! We see it all the time when people bring in pieces of jewelry from other jewelry stores near me to be verified.

Another reason to purchase your next nameplate from us is we have a great selection of gold and silver chains to go with your new nameplate. We offer chains from 16 inches all the way up to 30 inches. Most people require a 16” chain and the longest I have ever used for a nameplate is 22 inches. If you’re not sure what size chain, you should purchase for your name plate that’s O.K. We are here to help. Here are some tips on what size chain is right for you. If you have a slender body then you should use a 16” chain. If you have a medium build, we would suggest an 18” chain. If you are a big person, we suggest a 20”. Most people think height has a lot to do with the length of the chain they should choose. That is not necessarily always the case. Height has nothing to do with your neck size and where a chain will lay on your chest.

Another frequent question people often ask us, “is the chain going to be strong enough?” For us the answer is simple, yes. We do not sell inferior quality chains so no matter which chain our clients choose, they can rest assured that the chain will withstand the test of time. There are those occasions when a chain will get snagged or caught on something and break. Not to worry, all that is required is a quick solder that can be performed in our jewelry repair shop while you wait. Another suggestion we like to offer is try not to sleep with your necklaces on. After long periods of time your chain will stretch out and weaken, unless you have a very heavy solid link on your nameplate, then you do not have to worry as much about damaging your chain.

One of my favorite questions people always ask when purchasing a nameplate from our jewelry store is what kind of chain will look the best and be the strongest? The answer is not always so simple. When considering what kind of chain to use there are a few variables to consider. For instance, who will be wearing the chain? Is the person rough or do they take care of their jewelry? Will they wear it while playing sports or going to the gym? Will they sleep with it on? Are they still growing? You get the picture, right? In most cases I suggest anything that is a solid link. We offer our clients a good selection of Cable links, Cuban links, Figaro links, Mariner links, and Rollo links. We also will suggest Box chains and other various chains depending on the style of the nameplate and the client’s personality.

Most of the time we steer our clients away from putting thick chains on their nameplates because the nameplate should be the focal point on your neck, not the chain. There are people who insist on putting the heavier chain on their name plates for various reasons. In these cases, we listen to the client because after all, you are the boss and you know better than us what will suit your needs best. Chains come as thin as half a millimeter all the way on up to 15 millimeters and bigger. No matter what size chain you are looking for AJ’s Jewelry is your one stop source for all your name jewelry needs.

If you have any questions about nameplates or anything jewelry related, we are now a text away. Try our new jewelry concierge service, it’s like having a jeweler in your pocket. 347-232-3550. If you prefer to email us with your questions you may email inquiries to info@ajsjewelers.com. We look forward to hearing from you!