Reusing, repurposing and remodelling your old gold jewellery 

Reusing old jewellery is a rather complex process 

It’s not just as simple as pulling out the stones and melting your old gold together . Although some jewellers work this way, in my experience, this is not a good practice.

Often when you melt old gold all together without refining it first you end up with BIG problems such as pitting in the new jewellery, strange blemishes and/or brittleness.

This is owing to the fact all manufactured gold has some form of an alloy or various alloys mixed into it and without scientific testing in a lab, it’s impossible to know what the alloy metals in your old gold are, much less their quantities.

I can still reuse your old gold jewellery but I do need to send it away to be refined first ( after any stones are removed )

Your gold once refined is returned to me as pure gold granules ready for re casting and re alloying into any colour gold you like!

Normally you lose up to 50% of the golds original weight during this process .

Adding to the above comment most of the old gold I view is VERY lightweight in comparison to my work ( My rings can weigh up to 10 times more than a commercially made mass-produced ring), therefore I will need add a considerable amount of fresh gold, before recasting.

So if your considering remodelling as a huge cost-saving option it may save you a small amount, but not a huge amount.

The number of work hours in a remodel can be 5 times longer than a piece started from scratch, often just removing the stones from their settings can take a full day’s work.

I often use the example of a dressmaker cutting a couture dress out of old fabric scraps, then sewing each together to make a beautiful new garment.

If you can visualise how much more work that would take, rather than say cutting a dress from a  new bolt of cloth, then you get an idea of how much work it often takes to reuse old jewellery.

So is it actually worthwhile to do?

ABSOLUTELY!

Debra is renowned worldwide for her immense skill and talent in this genre, you only need to take a look at her remodelling gallery to see the incredible before and afters.

If You’d Like a Different Gold Colour to Your Old Jewellery: I can mix different alloys with your refined gold granules before casting your new ring.

Remodelling Your Sterling Silver Jewellery:
Unfortunately, I cannot reuse sterling silver, as it is not economically viable

Reusing Your Gems:
Your gems will need to be of decent quality to reuse. Often their size determines how they can be reused. Commonly the commercially made jewellery I see seems to have badly cut, very low-grade gems in them, which often makes setting and reusing them a challenge. Obviously, I will let you know whether they are reusable or not before I start.

I can also add more gems if needed too – and do so often

Please note that working with your gems is entirely at your own risk (you will be asked to sign a contract before work commences).

Financials:

The minimum fee for a gold remodel is $3200 upwards, some customers prefer to credit their old gold and remake in sterling silver, which is far less costly

Interested in Remodelling?

• Please send a photo of your old jewellery
• Please send a photo of my designs you like the look of as a reference for creating your new piece.
• Provide your finger size and what colour gold you prefer.

From this I should be able to give you a “ballpark” figure, however, sketches and a final quote cannot be ascertained until I inspect the old jewellery under a microscope.

I will also send a remodelling contract and ask you to sign and return it to me before any work commences. Usually, I am happy to take your old gold as a deposit towards the new work, however, if I need to purchase extra gems I may ask for a small deposit.

As with all my custom work the final product may differ slightly from any original sketches supplied. Please be aware as an artist Debra reserves the right to some creative license on works.

Whilst the majority of remodelling work is done in-house, very occasionally I will send work off to have your gems inset into the new piece by a diamond setter if they appear to have a very challenging cut.

I can no longer offer valuations on the new work as we are not registered valuers- I suggest you have your new jewellery revalued as soon as possible for insurance purposes.

Due to the high demand for Debra’s remodelling work, please allow up to 3 MONTHS for completion.

Should you decide to leave your old jewellery with me and not proceed, you have 6 months to pick up your old jewellery after which I will dispose of it.

Remodelling work-new 2019