Renew Your Old Rings | Dorothée Rosen Designer Goldsmith

ReBirth Rings

Many people have gold jewellery or other jewellery with diamonds kicking around which, for one reason or another, they no longer wear. These might be concerns of aesthetics, size, or they may be deep emotional reasons. Gold can most definitely be recycled and made into something brand new, and meaningful diamonds can be given a new home.

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How does repurposing your heirloom gold and gems work?

Can I Use my own Gold?

Yes. I generally trade in the value of your hallmarked gold towards the price of your new ring. As of Sept 1, 2024, trade-in value of stamped and hallmarked gold is as follows:

$58.71/g for 18kt (75.0% pure gold)
$44.15/g for 14kt (58.5% pure)
$29.58/g for 10kt (41.7% pure gold)

Note that this rate changes depending on market price.

While it is possible under certain circumstances to incorporate your melted used gold into a new ring, there are many reasons why I don’t recommend it.

Why can’t the gold just be melted and reforged?

Often clients ask me to use the gold from their old jewellery towards the making of the new ring . This is a lot more complicated than you would think. I cannot simply melt the gold into a new ring; this would compromise the strength of the gold itself, as the precious metal could become brittle from being melted, reshaped and reused repeatedly. A lot of physical pressure is placed on the metal during the forging of rings in the OneFooter Series, making the structural integrity of the metal of the utmost importance. Newly refined metal must be added to the old metal to prevent this brittleness.

For white-gold, the problems are multiplied: white-gold does not enjoy being melted; the alloys separate.

So while it is possible to incorporate heirloom jewellery into the metal content of a new ring, it does become an extra-special project. This whole process is much easier for pieces which are cast, such as the Script or MapleWrap Series, not hand fabricated as is the case with the OneFooter Series.

Can I Use my own Diamond?

I use the utmost care and skill in extracting your diamond from its current setting, and re-setting it into this custom-made ring for you.

I can re-set your diamond(s) whether it’s in a ring currently or not. However, there are some things you should know ahead of time.

Dorothee making handmade jewellery in her Halifax studio

La réutilisation d'une pierre peut être difficile sur celle-ci. Imaginez que c'était votre maison - de nos jours, une maison peut être récupérée et déplacée vers un nouvel emplacement. Mais s'il y avait un problème avec la maison au départ, la relocalisation pourrais être susceptible de causer quelques bris.

I guarantee that I will apply skill and love to the rebirth of your ring.

Please note: in order for me to re-set your heirloom diamonds, they need to have a minimum size of 3mm or 0.10ct each.

Vous voulez discuter du relooking de votre ancienne bague?

Contact me about coming to see me in my Halifax studio. If you don’t live here, we can work remotely. I can safely ship your materials to my studio, not to worry.