December 2022 by Debra Kirschner
Many years ago, my mom purchased in Italy a fine porcelain sculpture of two intertwined giraffes. It was a piece made by Herrin, with the “netting”The piece was very delicate, and in transit it one of the legs was damaged….My mom was so heartbroken, so I took the pieces to Harry Eberhardt & son and was amazed at how perfectly they restored the break, you could not tell which leg had been broken! What ever they charged, the total escapes me, it was worth how beautifully they restored the piece and how much joy that brought to my mom. ?
November 2015 by Kate DeSantis
I had purchased a beautiful wine goblet in Prague for the equivalent of $100.00 - and when the globe broke from the stem, I wanted only the best craftsman to do the repair. It was a clean break, no chips (not even small dust pieces) missing, and a friend who is a jeweler was able to bond the pieces back together. I declined - again, for this piece I wanted the best. I took the glass into Philly (I'm from S. Jersey) and paid the minimum of $80.00 plus tax to repair. The glass was ready the next day but I was unable to get back into the city until June 19th.When I picked up the piece, it was indeed fixed, but the glass was not flush - I could feel the breakage seam at the top of the stem. I was told "nobody will know it's there". I know it's there. I was told "you don't hold the glass that high, you won't be able to feel it". Again, I know it's there. I asked if the imperfection could be smoothed out. I was told no, there wasn't a tool that could get to it. I asked if they would use this piece as a reference piece - after all, what is displayed on their website is magnificent. No answer. I asked to have the fee reduced, and was repeatedly told that this was their minimum. I said that I would open a claim with my credit card company, and when it was apparent that I was going to pursue this, we agreed that they would refund me $20.00 (should have been half, but I was done dealing with them).Interestingly, I took the wineglass to my jeweler friend who quickly and easily smoothed out rough seam. He explained that the globe was not positioned properly in the curing process - it had slipped just a little bit. And he reminded me that he would have fixed the glass for significantly less.Bottom line - unless your piece is PRICELESS, and they feel it's worthy of their skills - STAY AWAY.
