LEWISBURG — Not everything old is new again, but when it comes to jewelry and watches, Barry Knauer can usually make it so.

Knauer is a fixer. He’s one of those rare people who can take the broken, downtrodden no-longer-worn pieces from our jewelry boxes and turn them into items we can wear again, heirlooms that can be seen, and great conversation pieces.

Knauer and his partner, Lucie Rivoire, own Antiques at 221 in downtown Lewisburg. Both had other careers first, his as a teacher and salesman, hers as a travel agent, but gravitated to antiques because they love them. In restoring items that are beautiful and functional, they found their calling.

“Chances are every woman has a box of pieces she likes, but can’t wear because something is missing or broken, and she can’t get rid of them because of the emotional attachment,” Rivoire said. Her partner can end that frustration. Even if it’s a watch.

The secret is expertise and a little bit of the pack-rat mentality. Knauer collects parts, from gemstones to winding stems.

He has hundred and hundreds of movements — gears, wheels and the like — because if it’s from the 1950s or earlier, you can’t order parts for it anymore.

Adapting old to new

Knauer has been tinkering with watches for about 30 years, learning more all the time. He understands and loves their inner workings. Holding a pocket watch in his palm, with the back opened, he invites you to discover the work of intricate art that it is inside. Yet he can, he says, repair 99 percent of all mechanical watches for about $75.

For those don’t have a candidate for repair, but want some bling with character or historic pedigree, Knauer and Rivoire sell estate jewelry and antiquarian watches.

In their shop at 221 Market St. — the address is in the store’s name — one can find period pieces like cameos, cuff links, hat pins, and pocket watches, and timeless items like rings and bracelets and necklaces in the style of the recent past and long ago, formal to whimsical.

Intriguingly, at 221, one can find historic pieces adapted to modern use. Men’s watch fobs, the artistic end of a watch chain, become elegant ladies necklaces; assorted Victorian cuff links, missing their mates, become fascinating bracelets. If a customer has a piece, Knauer can accommodate his or her imagination.

He recently bought a lot of 400 Victorian cuff links. Those missing their mates are candidates for bracelet groupings. Knauer takes off their back posts and solders seven or more of them onto chains. They’re made to last and no two are ever alike, he said. He sells them for $395. Dealers buy them and double the price for sale in cities like New York and Boston, he adds.

Work watch, dress watch