I. Switt

I went in about a month ago to look at old cut stones. I was considering switching out the stone I currently have for something older. When I went in there was an older man and younger man working the counter. They were extremely rude and off-​putting. At times, they didn’t even look at me while I was asking a question or trying something on. I felt like I was interrupting their work day. At one point when I told them that I was looking to put a different stone in my ring, the younger man said, «you should start over with a different ring instead of bastardizing the one you have.» I was speechless. He actually used the word «bastardizing» when describing my intentions with my ring. Is that how jewelers close a deal?
The unfortunate thing is that they have some of the best estate/​vintage jewelry I’ve seen in the area and I really liked their wedding bands. But the salespeople were complete jerks. When I was at another store describing this experience, an extremely nice salesperson said there is a lady that owns the store. Perhaps there is better luck with her. The fact that some of the reviews on Unilocal of this place are three years old and people are still having bad experiences leads me to believe the store just operates this way. Extremely upsetting and disappointing.

This place has a really promising window — an enticing jumble of treasures — but is no fun for browsing. All of the jewelry is hidden and you have to rely on the employees’ limited goodwill to get things out for you.
The glimpses I caught suggested there were interesting pieces in there… but I didn’t have the patience to ask for categories of things one at a time in the hopes that I would stumble on something good. They might have good stuff, but a casual browser will never see it.

I’ve been to I Switt twice now, drawn in by their awesome window — a pull for anyone into vintage and antique jewelry. Their selection is great, eclipsed only by Halloween on Pine, but the service is beyond rude.
The first time I went, several months ago, to get an idea of what to tell my fiancé as to my preferences for a ring. I found several things I loved, but felt rather dismissed by the staff in general. We thought we would give them a second chance this week, assuming that the treatment I received was more due to my casual dress on my first visit.
The second visit was far worse. We were greeted pleasantly, but then the older woman repeatedly told me I could not try on every ring I pointed to, telling me they were too expensive. I found this particularly offensive as they never asked what our target price range was. She did eventually let me try on the rings, but at that point I was so frustrated we gave up and went to another shop — and encountered far better service.
A shame, because their jewelry is stunning, but not worth the treatment and attitude.

Lots of oddly good reviews about this place, and only one that was reminiscent of my experience. After reading the reviews, we decided to hit I Switt first to find a gift for my mother in law’s 60^th bday. I knew I wanted to get her something to remind her of family, like a birthstone ring or necklace but not quite that cheesy. Was just hoping something might jump out at me. We walked in and were not greeted with a smile by anyone. I explained what we were looking for to the older gentleman and he brusquely informed me that they don’t do «birthstone» jewelry since they have to be made. I know that, I am just looking for something AKIN to that idea.
Unfortunately, this is not the type of place where you can just browse. There is a ton of crap everywhere, and most of the jewelry is hidden in another room. So he brings out a swatch with a bunch of lovely bracelets on it. I start asking about one that has different stones in it, perhaps they would be the right birthstones? I ask him to name the stones. He was very rude now. «I don’t know… uh, that’s a garnet. That’s an emerald…», etc., with such annoyance. I looked at him and said, «Just curious!» (i.e., calm the eff down). I guess he doesn’t like to be questioned about things he is clearly not expert on.
We should’ve left at that point. Instead, I asked how much a tahitian pearl bracelet was. His response: $ 2500. So glad I wasted 5 minutes looking at something that was clearly a ridiculous price point. Let’s be honest. The average person walking into an antique jewelry store is not looking to spend thousands of dollars. We told him we wanted to spend a couple hundred. He goes, «Oh, I didn’t know…»
That’s why you ask before you bring out all of your merchandise. My husband then mentioned that his mom really likes shells, did they have anything like that. Good call! I didn’t think of that! We were so stoked when he pulled out this cool clam-​shell pendant/​locket that it didn’t matter what the price was. Which, btw, was $ 175. Since that was about how much we wanted to spend, we didn’t think about the fact that it was clearly not worth that much. We didn’t even haggle. Rookie mistake and I take the blame. But I think that this guy used a tactic bringing out really high priced items first so that $ 175 didn’t sound so bad. It worked, we bought it. But the next day I looked up similar pieces online, and most of them were in the $ 10-​$ 20 range. I even found a vintage one even older than the one he sold us (presuming it was from the 50’s as he said), and that one was listed for $ 20! We got completely ripped off.
So we’re the schmucks. I’ll accept that. But beware. The jewelry business is lucrative, and they know how arbitrary it all is. Do your research before you hand your cash over.

The salesperson was extremely nasty and treated me as though I was wasting his time. I’ve been buying antique/​vintage jewelry for decades and found his manner inexplicably rude and offensive. I will NEVER enter this store again.

This was our second time to I Switt. The first trip was to purchase our engagement ring. The store is a great, very welcoming and knowledgeable with an interesting history. We returned to buy our wedding bands because of how much we liked the Art Deco ring we bought the first time and wanted something unique for our wedding bands. Great service all around with a wonderful selection of rings from all sizes, time periods, price ranges and styles. We highly recommend them and will definitely be back!

If you like old-​timey jewelry, old trinkets, watches, etc. If you don’t like new displays, gizmos, pretentiousness, If you like old-​time quality, and not cheap crap made in China, then this might be the jewelry store for you. Looks like they just opened in 1933, complete with old photos, etc — I’ve bought several items here, of very good quality, at a good price. If you’re looking for unique, high quality jewelry/​watches/​etc at a fair price, and don’t mind the very dated appearance, this is a great experience in jewelers’ row. There’s no place quite like it in Philly.

I stopped in because of the lovely jewelry in their store front. They have a ton of stuff that I would have loved to look at but found the service a bit off putting.
I was only there for about 15min and I was made to feel like I was wasting their time. The younger gentleman that was there seemed annoyed when I didn’t like the selections he was pulling out. I showed him pictures of what I was looking for and he kept showing me things other than what I was looking for. The older man that was there made it appoint to keep up the dismissive attitude with me.
The rude attitude I got because they didn’t have what I was looking for wasn’t necessary. I would have been happy to go back and look for other stuff but not sure I’ll be going back.

My review is dated; possibly from memories in the 1980’s, when I was a teenager. However, I’ve heard that the store hasn’t changed much. It was basically a magic cabinet of jewelry and silverware. If you’re NOT a power-​shopper, and you do NOT like stores with lots of cutting-​edge halogen lights and perfumed salespeople, then this MIGHT be the place for you. However, be prepared to not make a deal on your first trip. This is a store of relationships — of long-​standing knowledge. Izzy Switt made (or re-​made) much of the jewelry for my family for three generations, and I’m sure Joan is keeping the flame alive, and the shop un-​updated, as it should be. You could spend a little, or you could spend a lot here — the pricing is as much up to you as it is them.

This place is fantastic. It’s at the end of jeweler’s row and has a bunch of estate jewelry, antiques, etc. It’s been around since the 1930s and it looks like an old treasure trove. I’m traveling to Africa for a volunteer trip and didn’t want to wear my wedding ring set. I was shopping for a simple gold band. George turned around to his safe, took out a box of gold rings, and dumped them all on an open sheet of newspaper. There were all kinds of gold rings of all shapes, sizes and designs. There was one wedding band with a great engraving, one from 1923 «from doogie to doddy» or something like that. If I had more time, would love to come back here and look for some cool pieces. This place is wonderful for people who have a place in their heart for things of antiquity… By the way, when I mentioned I would write a Unilocal review, George didn’t seem like he knew what I was talking about. Makes sense since he said they don’t even have a computer in the store!