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Gold Smelting & Jewellery Remakes

Whether it is broken, worn or inherited, if you have old jewellery that you don't wear, it can be remade into a brand new handmade piece created personally for you.

 

Jewellery remodelling is a way of recycling gold and gemstones, sometimes referred to as 'upcycling'. Inherited jewellery which has sentimental meaning can be re-designed to create something more modern, which maintains a special significance.

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Jewellery materials such as gold and gemstones  are well suited to reworking into something new. Gemstones are simple to recycle, particularly diamonds,  which are so hard they will rarely show any wear.

Old Gold: Melt & Make Service

If you have old gold jewellery which you wish to have made into something new, it can be completely transformed by melting it at high heat, and re-casting it in an ingot/wire mould. The resulting gold ingot wire can then be shaped and formed into new jewellery, which can be as contemporary, classic or unique as you want it to be. 

 

The new design is not constrained by the existing piece as more metal and gemstones can be added to what you already have.

 

Unfortunately because of the time and process involved, for small quantities of low carat gold it doesn't tend to work out cheaper than using refined gold. Slightly more gold is required to begin with than when using pre-refined gold, as there is some wastage in the process of smelting, forming and finishing. The 'new' gold created is not suitable for creating small fine pieces, so most gem settings will still have to be made from refined gold and soldered on, although flush setting is possible.

 

Smelting creates a rough ingot which still requires working, forming and finishing, so the making of a new piece is separate to the smelt. For example, a band ring from recycled metal would involve a smelt process then the ingot would be forged and formed into a band ring to the customers requirements then would undergo hallmarking at the London Assay Office.

 

For gold rings the hallmark is your guarantee that your ring is solid gold. Hallmarking usually costs about £40 for the standard service plus postage. For silver jewellery, items only need to be hallmarked if they are above 7.78g in weight, so hallmarking is not necessary in most cases.

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More detailed designs and additional services such as engraving, and stone setting are available, and I am happy to give you a customised quote. 

 

From an environmental point of view, recycling and redesigning old jewellery is a choice which maintains an ethical integrity, so reusing precious materials is very worthwhile.

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