Cow Hollow Jewelry Repair Shop for Pearls: Carats & Stones

Plenty of Union Street storefronts sell jewelry, but fewer still keep a working repair counter. Carats & Stones, at 1833 Union St between Laguna and Octavia, is one of them. Regulars may remember it as KTD Jewelers: the shop's own FAQ answers that question head on, explaining that it is still Carats and Stones by KTD, that it moved to Cow Hollow before the pandemic, and that Linda and Jackie are still behind the counter. If you have a ring that spins, a prong that catches on sweaters or a pearl strand that has gone slack, this is a neighborhood place to bring it.

The story behind the shop starts well before San Francisco. According to its About page, the family trade began with Linda Kha's grandfather, a skilled watchmaker in Vietnam. Her father carried that knowledge to the United States after immigrating in the 1970s and kept working at the bench. Linda grew up in the business and started helping him at just 12 years old. She remembers taking clocks apart and putting them back together as a child, treating each one like a puzzle, and the site says that habit shaped how she approaches jewelry now.

Jackie has worked alongside Linda since the 1980s, so the two names on the FAQ represent decades of shared work rather than a new team behind an old sign. That continuity is a big part of why people follow a jeweler from one address to another. When KTD became Carats & Stones and moved up the hill to Cow Hollow, the repair customers came along, and the old ktdjewelers.com address now points to the same shop.

The repair page breaks the work into rings and into necklaces and bracelets. On the ring side it lists resizing, prong tightening and tipping, shank rebuilding, reshaping a bent band, adding a sizing bar and soldering. A sizing bar is worth asking about if you have knuckles larger than the base of your finger: the small bar inside the shank keeps a ring sitting upright instead of rolling to one side. Shank rebuilding is the fix for an old band that has worn thin at the bottom after years of daily wear.

For necklaces and bracelets, the shop solders broken chains, shortens tennis jewelry and restrings pearls and beads. Pearl restringing is one of the jobs many repair counters no longer do in house, and the FAQ answers it plainly: yes, they can. If your strand has stretched, or the knots between pearls have darkened, restringing is routine maintenance rather than a sign that something is broken. Bring the clasp along even if it has come off, since reusing the original clasp keeps the piece looking the way you remember it.

Plan on patience. The FAQ says repairs typically take two to four weeks depending on how busy the bench is, and the repair page warns that times can stretch around the holidays, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. If a ring needs resizing before an anniversary or a wedding, drop it off well before those peaks. For heirloom work that goes beyond repair, the shop also repurposes old jewelry and designs custom pieces, and it offers a free consultation to talk through the options.

Pickup has its own rules, and they are stricter than at many counters. Bring your pick-up receipt and your ID. If the receipt is lost, the ID alone will do. Only people named on the account may collect an item, so if a partner or friend will be doing the pickup, add them to the ticket when you drop the piece off. The shop has a warranty for manufacturing defects on what it sells, but that does not cover everyday wear and tear, and it offers complimentary appraisals only on its own pieces bought for over $1,500.

Union Street makes an easy walk between drop-off and lunch. Head west and the blocks fill with cafes, boutiques and Victorian storefronts, with Rose's Cafe a local favorite for a late breakfast. A short walk east brings you to the corner of Gough Street and the McElroy Octagon House, an unusual eight-sided home built in 1861 and now a city landmark, run as a small museum by the Colonial Dames. From the top of the Union Street hill you can look north toward the Marina and the bay on a clear day.

If you are coming by Muni, the 41 Union and 45 Union/Stockton lines both run along Union Street and stop near Laguna and Octavia. Drivers will find metered spaces on the street, though they fill quickly on Saturdays. The shop's own advice is to use the garage next to the Wells Fargo on the street, and there is some residential parking on the side streets nearby.

Address: Carats & Stones, 1833 Union Street, San Francisco, CA 94123, between Laguna and Octavia. Hours listed on the shop's site: Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am to 5:30 pm. Sunday and Monday are not listed. Repairs typically take two to four weeks, longer around holidays. The shop restrings pearls, resizes rings, retips prongs and repairs watches, including Rolex. Pickups require your receipt or ID, and only people on the account may collect an item. No repair prices are published on the site, so expect a quote at the counter.

Before you go, photograph each piece and note any loose stones, since a prong job is easier to quote when the jeweler can see exactly which claws are worn. Keep a broken chain in a small bag so no links go missing. If you need a coffee while you wait for a quote, the Karpo APP can point you to a cafe on Union Street that fits your plans.