repair
Saturday/April/2009 06:51 PM Barrie`s
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Two or three week-ends ago I asked Maite what she had done with the horse hair braided belt I was wearing during the accident, she told me, [ some 8 months after the accident ] that the belt was in my cupboard but the silver and turquoise buckle had been badly damaged during the crash. It had been crushed against the BMW fuel tank, some of the turquoise stones were missing or broken. The silver buckle was dented. I was very upset as I loved that buckle and had worn it for over twenty years since I bought it on a trip to Zuni in New Mexico. It was made by a North American Indian called Robert Leekya who lives in New Mexico and was a really skilled silversmith. Upset as I was I decided that this favourite item would be repaired. I did some research on line and found that there were two Indian Jewelry shops in small village of Zuni I was not too sure who I bought the buckle from but did have an idea from looking at photos of the shops on line. I had reply from the shop where I purchased the buckle who said they would repair it for a very modest $50-60. Then the second shop replied who said they knew Robert Leekya and could get him to do the repair for me. They would only estimate after they had seen it. Fantastic I thought, remember I bought the buckle in 1982 ! Robert was still alive and working !! Much against Maite's advice I packed the buckle and trusted it to the post to get it over the remote Zuni, New Mexico for me. Yesterday I heard from Greg, the owner of Turquoise Village shop, that the buckle had arrived and Robert Leekya had seen it and said he would restore it for me "as new" for $80. I was ecstatic with this news............... Then can a second email, the shop owner Greg said that he was coming to London on 21st of April and he would bring the buckle over with him, he is staying near Harrods in Knightsbridge where I will collect it later this month.