You pay for getting your shoes polished, you pay for getting your car washed, but will your customers pay for getting their jewelry cleaned?

[h3]Nyack Jewelry Spa Plus; Nyack, New York[/h3]

[dropcap cap=C]arlo Accattato, owner of Nyack Jewelry Spa Plus in Nyack, New York, realized early in his career that the answer was “Yes!” Charging to clean a customer’s jewelry builds greater value than offering this service for free.[/dropcap]

[componentheading]THE IDEA[/componentheading]

Many people are afraid to have their jewelry cleaned, fearing that when it’s taken to the back of the store, and out of sight, that stones might be switched or diamonds might jar loose.

[componentheading]THE EXECUTION[/componentheading]

Accattato, observing and experiencing this concern, endeavored to create, design and patent his own jewelry cleaning system. Looking more like a high-tech cappuccino machine than the jewelers’ traditional ultrasonic or steam cleaner, Accattato’s invention is designed to be placed right in front of a store — where every movement can be watched by the customer. This helps takes the anxiety out of jewelry cleaning.

[componentheading]THE REWARDS[/componentheading]

Accattato’s device doesn’t vibrate like an ultrasonic cleaner, thus the water does not vigorously shake to loosen the dirt. Instead, an electrical charge is sent through the jewelry and forms bubbles on the metal itself to release the dirt. The built-in thermal rinse bath avoids shocking the stones and, in the last stage, the jewelry is rinsed and cleaned with a burst of wet steam.  

Nyack Jewelry Spa Plus markets their cleaning services and customers come from all over to have their jewelry cleaned. Carlo estimates that he has done thousands of cleanings in the last six months and store traffic has increased 10 percent from last year. “Some customers make Nyack Jewelry Spa Plus a routine stop on their way home on late Friday afternoons so that their jewelry sparkles for a night on the town, a special event or dinner party,” Accattato says, adding that he has had such success with what he calls the “Jewelcuzzi’ ” that he’s signed an exclusive deal with the Salton Co, marketers and manufacturers of the George Foreman grill, to sell a home version.

[span class=note]This story is from the June 2003 edition of INSTORE[/span]