Remodelling Your Old Jewellery
Transforming your unworn jewellery into a new heirloom piece is a rewarding and meaningful endeavour. By repurposing your old gold and gemstones, you can design and create a unique piece that carries the stories and memories of the past alongside your current and future life values. A a beautiful blend of old and new.
BEFORE and AFTER of Deirdre’s remodel.
We took her Mother’s wedding ring set, melted down parts of them and redesigned them into a modern pendant design for everyday wear. Deirdre can now have a little bit of her Mum close by.
I thought I’d address some FAQ on jewellery remodelling to demystify the process for you.
An in-person consultation is the best place to start. Here we can assess your old gold, silver and platinum pieces, loose gemstones, or broken items that no longer serve their original purpose. Once I have a sense of quanities and quality of materials to work with, we can decide on what is usable in a new design, and what might be better to trade-in for cash at a gold dealer. The cash return comes with a receipt, and can be put towards the cost of your new design.
The best metals to work with for melting down, are the yellow golds. So 18ct, 14ct, and 9ct yellow golds are most likely to melt well. Rose golds are a little more temperamental, but usually ok. White golds are often problematic, due to the variation in alloy recipes from all over the world. We may be able to utilise parts without melting though. Silver isn’t usually worth remelting for a handmade job.
There is a non-refundable melting fee of $200 for melting your metal. This is because there is labour time in prepping your metals (cleaning, removing gems, working out ratios, melting, sometimes numerous times etc) to get your metals to a point where I can begin making the new piece. In the case that your gold is unable to be refined for re-use, we will need to cash it in and start with fresh metal. This possibility will be discussed in more detail at your initial appointment.
Sometimes we use the sentimental parts of an old piece (engraved sections for example) and incorporate them into the new design. Gemstones will be checked for quality (eg. is it a diamond or a cubic zirconia? There’s no use designing a $2000 ring around a CZ worth $5 which will scratch in no time) and can then be designed into a new piece. Some gems like Sapphires & Rubies might need repolishing before we use them. Don’t write them off just because they are scratched! There could be a stunning gem hiding under there. Repolishing is a small additional fee, included in the overall charge.
The utmost care is taken to ensure your precious gems come out unscathed and glowing in their new housing. However, there is a small risk worth mentioning, that something unforeseen may occur during the making process, or a problematic gem inclusion was present that I didn’t detect before setting. Your recycled gems are used at your risk, and won’t be covered under my manufacture warranty, with replacement at your cost. If you have a valuable gem, I suggest taking out separate insurance cover before any work is started.
Bring in your design ideas, and we can draw up something unique and special to you.
Every handmade piece is designed in consultation with you, incorporating special touches to tell your particular stories. In past commissions we have done hand engraving of dates, quotes, family crests, significant symbols or shapes, even paw prints! Birthstones and specific colours are also often used. We can mix in new gems to make things work too.
I hand draw up your design for you to review and modify if needed.
Once your design has been settled on, we put down a 50% deposit to get to work making your exciting new piece. The remainder is paid on completion, and all remodel work comes with the same packaging as any other freshly handmade piece. A Valuation for insurance purposes can be organised on request and ready to take home when you collect your new heirloom jewellery. Any leftover gold scrap and gemstones will be returned on completion also.
Timeframe for completion is usually 4-8 weeks.
I hope this answers any burning questions you have on jewellery remodelling! It can be a really rewarding and sometimes emotional process, so let me guide you through it. Check out the custom creations page for further inspiration on your own remodelling design.
What do I do with my unwanted gold scrap?
You can trade-in your unwanted (or unusable) gold/platinum scrap for a cash return with a gold dealer. I reccomend Sharma Bullion upstairs on level 8. This needs to be done by you, and requires some form of ID on hand. You can calculate your gold return based on weight here goldbuyerssharma.com.au
