Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

text

The post Store Guidelines for Phase 4 appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

text

The post Phase 3 Re-Opening & New Summer Hours appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

text

The post Keep Evanston Awesome! appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

text

The post COVID-19 Precautions appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

It’s time for our annual Designer Trunk Show and we hope you’ll join us for this special evening.

• NEW THIS YEAR! A Stack Party with gorgeous stackable rings and bracelets, plus layered necklaces from Brooklyn designer Freida Rothman.
• Shop the latest from UNO de 50, Freida Rothman and Zina Sterling and take 30% off your purchase from these designer collections
• Take 20% off all other in-stock jewelry (excluding clearance items)
• Meet our local jewelry designers. It’s a fantastic opportunity not only to support local artists, but also to see their full line of beautiful handcrafted one-of-a-kind jewelry and learn more about their design process and inspiration.

We have great gift ideas for any budget and will be serving complimentary hors d’oeuvres and beverages, including a selection of wine and beer.

We hope to see you on Thursday evening, December 6th between 6-9 pm for this splendid holiday shopping event.

Want to be notified about other news and events like this? Sign up for our newsletter!

text

The post Annual Holiday Trunk Show appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

It’s that time of year again! Please join us for the Main Dempster Mile Evanston Charity Wine Walk, taking place on Thursday, September 13, 2018 from 5-9 pm. We hope you’ll stop in and enjoy a wine tasting and complimentary hors d’oeuvres while you browse our fine selection of jewelry and watches.

This year, proceeds from the walk will go toward the installation of a new mural on Chicago Avenue. Learn more and purchase tickets here at eventbrite.com. Tickets can also be purchased on the day of the walk at several locations (La Principal is closest to us).

Some of our talented local designers will be on hand at the store to showcase their work — it’ll be a great opportunity to meet the artists, see more of their work, and shop locally.

Of course you don’t need to participate in the walk to browse and purchase jewelry or timepieces. We will be open to the public until 9 p.m. on September 13th, two hours later than our normal Thursday night hours!

text

The post 2018 Evanston Wine Walk appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

We’ll be pouring some bubbly and serving delectable treats for participants in the Sauce Walk Art & Dessert Crawl on Thursday May 17th from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. Dozens of shops along the Main-Dempster Mile are hosting pop-up galleries for a variety of local artists.

You’ll be able to shop one-of-a-kind wearable art and meet our talented artists: metalsmith Jacob Keleher and glass artist Karen Ovington.

Tickets are just $16, and all profits from this event will benefit the Main-Dempster Mile Public Art Fund. It’s going to be an amazing night of art, community and camaraderie — we hope to see you there!

SaveSave

text

The post 2018 Sauce Walk, A Dessert & Art Crawl appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

One of our lesser-known services is converting mechanical watches to a quartz movement. There are many reasons why someone would be interested in going this route for their timepiece. Quite often it’s due to lack of available parts or that they have had the watch repaired in the past but it continues to give them problems in keeping time.

We are always up-front and honest about how a quartz conversion may affect the value of the watch, as many of these are vintage or antique, and a conversion alters its original condition. However, many old watches may not have much value as an antique, and usually the owner is converting it simply to make it functional and/or for sentimental reasons.

That reason is why we were contacted to convert a pocket watch for someone halfway around the world.

Kent, a young man from the Sydney, Australia area, contacted us through our Quartz Conversion form about converting a pocket watch that was handed down through his family. Here’s what he first wrote, along with a photo of the movement:

I would like to enquire about having my great grandfather’s wind up pocket watch movement converted to quartz battery powered movement. The watch I believe is approximately from the 1910s/1920s maybe and is currently not working (hence the conversion). My intention is to have it working so that my father can wear it with his suit to his daughter’s wedding later this year.

 

Before he shipped it off to us, we communicated back and forth a bit more to make sure the proper movement would be available. Here’s an excerpt:

It’s sometimes difficult to find a proper movement that will work with pocket watches because of the distance between the hour/minute hands in the center to the sub-second hand. Can you send us more photos and also the distance (in mm) between the center of hour/minute hands to the center of the sub-second hand from the dial side/face of the watch?

If it’s not important that the sub-second hand moves, that could be a workaround for finding a movement that fits.
Also note that the second hand will “jump” from second to second instead of “sweep” like it normally would.

Since it’s a family heirloom, also be sure that it’s something you (or your father) are comfortable in doing, as this would permanently alter the watch. Unfortunately we aren’t appraisers and can’t tell you its worth, so it would be your call if you want to make the change.

The pocket watch, before

Kent replied:

I fully respect the technicality involved with having the sub-second hand working and such would expect that to remain fixed in place. Hopefully that would make the task a little more realistic to achieve.

Thank you for your concern regarding the value. I have discussed this matter with my father, and we both agree from a usability and longevity point of view that replacing with a quality quartz movement would be the best option for us.

With that, the photos he sent, and the measurement in mm between the center of the hands to the center of the sub-second hands, we determined that a movement was available, but likely not one that would allow the sub-second hand to work. As you can see from the photo, the dial also had suffered damage near the 5 o’clock hour and there were some hairline cracks that were dirtied by oil.

Kent sent the watch to us at the end of March. We asked if he’d like us to also polish the watch case and also try to fill in the damaged spot with a special white wax that would help disguise the damage. We don’t like to assume that everyone would want certain changes that we could make to improve the look, as they can sometimes be a fond reminder of how the damage occurred in the first place. Kent was keen to have us do both.

Our normal turnaround time is 2-4 weeks, and in this case we wanted to be sure the watch was running well for several weeks before we shipped it. In September, a few months after we sent the watch back, we received this nice email from Kent:

I thought I would send a couple of photos of pocket watch you guys restored. My older sister got married last Saturday on a beautiful, special spring day here in Sydney… where the watch made an appearance! I have attached a couple of photos (taken from my grandfather’s film camera) of my dad wearing the watch on the day and also one of the watch on display in our house. As you might be able to see from the photo, there is an original photograph of my dad’s grandfather’s family from back in the early 1910s.. you may be able to make out the watch chain.

Thank you again for the time, care and effort you guys put in! It was definitely a talking point & my Dad absolutely loves it. You should have seen the kudos I was getting from people after explaining to them I had it sent to the US!!

Kent’s father checking the time on his daughter’s wedding day

The converted pocket watch on display at home in Australia

Many thanks to Kent for trusting us with his cherished heirloom, the photos and nice comments!

If you’re interested in learning more about our quartz conversion services for watches and clocks, please don’t hesitate to call, stop in the store, or fill out our form for an estimate on your timepiece.

text

The post Halfway Around the World appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

Please join us for the Main Dempster Mile Evanston Charity Wine Walk, taking place on Thursday, September 14, 2017 from 5-9 pm. We hope you’ll stop in and enjoy a wine tasting while you browse our fine selection of jewelry and watches.

Proceeds from the walk benefit Evanston Community Foundation and Evanston WE Program.

Two talented local designers will be on hand at the store to showcase their work: J.Alan Designs and Karen Ovington Jewelry. It’ll be a great opportunity to shop locally, see more of their work and meet the artists.

Of course you don’t need to participate in the walk to purchase jewelry or timepieces. We will be open to the public until 9 p.m. on September 14th, two hours later than our normal Thursday night hours!

text

The post It’s Wine Walk Time Again! appeared first on RK Watch Service.

Virag Jewelers Virag Jewelers

Our 80th anniversary is also known as a Ruby Jubilee, and we’re celebrating with a sale! From now until Valentine’s Day, February 14th, you’ll pay just 80 percent of the retail price on any jewelry or watch item priced at $100 or more.*

In addition to our wide selection of watches and jewelry in the store, the 20% discount will apply to jewelry ordered through our showcase. This is just a small example of some ruby jewelry available.

20% off ALL jewelry (priced at $100 or more) during our Ruby Jubilee Celebration!

Because we couldn’t possibly stock the huge selection of beautiful jewelry our top-notch U.S. manufacturer offers, you can request to see any of their in-stock items within one business day in our store with no obligation to purchase. Either stop in the store and order through our catalog, or shop online right here. Add items to your cart and submit the quote request with your contact information (you won’t be asked for payment). We’ll be notified to order your items and will contact you when they arrive at our store.

We’ll hold the order up to 10 days and will return it if you decide not to purchase. The prices listed online are BEFORE the discount and will be given at checkout in the store.

If you’d like to see a ring, in most cases we can order the in-stock size for you and once you decide to purchase we’ll size the ring in-house at no additional cost. Custom orders, such as monograms or family jewelry, are not returnable/refundable, but we’ll discuss that with you before placing an order.

We had a wonderful time at our 80th Anniversary Party in December — sorry if we missed you that night but we hope to see you in the store soon!

*Items less than $100 cannot be combined for the discount, and clearance items are not included.

text

The post It’s Our Ruby Jubilee! appeared first on RK Watch Service.