Jewellery Remodelling

It's time for another guest post and today we hand over to Stuart Stanley from RING to give us an insight into jewellery remodelling... 

Jewellery remodelling, upcycling, resetting or restyling. Call it what you will, with precious metals & diamond values so high these days it is the logical choice if you have inherited or unwanted jewellery that is not to your taste.

Many people have jewellery that has been stuck in a drawer for a long, long time. This may be because it is broken, or because it was inherited from a relative & is simply not their style. The temptation is for these people to sell the jewellery but this is usually the worst thing to do. The reason is that 2nd hand jewellers base their buying prices on scrap metal values even when the jewellery is in perfectly good condition. Often they will not even add value to the price they pay if there are gem stones in the ring! With jewellery remodelling although you have to pay for the commission the finished piece is worth the same, if not more, than original piece.

So what is jewellery remodelling?

Well, it can take many forms. One example is simply resetting gemstones. Take engagement rings for example. Many people are tired of constantly paying for the re-plating of their white gold because it has turned a yellowy colour. This is because most jewellers do not tell their customers that the true colour has been masked with a fine plating of a metal called 'rhodium'. So, instead of paying £30-£50 every few months, RING jewellers can unset your diamond(s) & reset them into a metal that is naturally very white & will never need plating - ever! This could be either Platinum or Palladium.

3 stone cluster remodelled into a 9ct white gold rubover set ring

Another form of jewellery remodelling is the melting & reusing of gold. A customer may be looking to buy a wedding ring & they have inherited a gold wedding band that belonged to their parent or grandparent. Now the customer may prefer a white metal like platinum but the family heirloom is yellow gold. This is not a problem. At RING jewellers we can melt the family ring & use it as a fine gold inlay (a narrow yellow stripe in an otherwise white, platinum ring). Some of our clients do not want to see even the finest of yellow details so we use the gold as a 'liner' which is soldered inside the platinum ring & can only be seen when the wedding ring is removed (this choice is made when the gold is there purely used for the sentiment).

Jewellery remodelling can also change the function of an item of jewellery. A customer may have an old ring with lots of stones in. From this one ring they could make a matching set of pendant & earrings.

marquise ring remodelled into a marquise & round diamond pendant

Here is why jewellery remodelling is such a sensible choice:
Scenario 1 A lady inherits her grandmother's yellow gold diamond engagement ring. The insurance value is £2000. She sells it to a 2nd hand jeweller & gets £495. She then buys a ring to remember her gran by. The ring she buys for £495 has way smaller & lower quality diamonds. She has effectively down-graded her jewellery.

Scenario 2 The same lady inherits her grandmother's yellow gold diamond engagement ring. The insurance value is £2000. This time she commissions RING jewellers to design a ring she will love. They remove the diamonds from the inherited ring & reset them into a brand new design. The remodelling process costs her £495. The ring has now retained both its commercial & sentimental value & is still worth £2000. The lady wears the ring every day. This time instead of downgrading her jewellery she has 'upcycled' it!

Thanks for the insight there Stuart - now I'm off to raid the jewellery box! 

Charlotte