Recycled gold- Turning past family heirlooms into prized pieces to wear for another lifetime.

My love of heirloom jewellery naturally led me to work with old treasures from clients, recycling gold and precious stones into new pieces that will be loved for another lifetime. As a child, I was fascinated with my Mum's jewellery box and often wondered why she didn't wear it all. The truth is simple, we often inherit pieces that we love because of the stories attached to them when the style is often not what we would wear ourselves. Many people seem surprised that we can incorporate recycled gold and I wanted to share some of the stories of these experiences with you.

The sad fact of heirloom jewellery is that the new owner has experienced loss to find themselves in their possession. This process is a journey, and each one is very personal.

Reimagining your precious things into treasures that you will actually wear is magical, a truly great part of my job as a jeweller. The most important part of this journey is the collaborative process with each client, ensuring I successfully capture them and the memories.

I had the pleasure of working with a dear friend to do just that recently. Hattie had lost her mother as a teenager, and then in 2019, her maternal grandmother passed away. She found herself with a collection of incredibly personal jewellery which she would never wear. 

My Mum had left me her sapphire ring when she passed away, and years later, I found myself with my granny's garnet ring. I knew I was unlikely to wear any other rings but had been thinking about doing something special with my Mum's for a long time. Seeing Alison's beautiful work gave me the confidence to reimagine these special pieces.

Mum never took her ring off. It was always there on her hand, even when she died. I remember the sapphires from Mum's ring being found on a holiday in Sri Lanka when I was 7. The ring was her own design, but I liked the idea of recreating something different from it. Alison used stones from my mum's and my maternal grandmother's rings and recycled gold from Mum's sapphire ring. 

Recycled Gold - Your treasures reimagined

Alison and I talked through different design ideas and looked at various pieces across her collection. Following those discussions, Alison came up with a few other design ideas, and in the end, they were all so lovely.

I decided to also use one of the heirloom stones to make something for my sister. Alison is very intuitive and appreciated the sentimentality attached to my treasures. I wouldn't have trusted anyone else! 

People often come to me because they like my designs. Some have a clear vision of what they would like. The process from then is very much a collaborative one. I mockup designs, and we discuss your preferences. For Hattie, she knew she wanted a necklace as she would wear it all the time. This was a great starting point for working designs. Once we had detached the stones from the recycled gold, we knew what we had to work with. We can also add more gold and other gemstones, so designs don't have to be limited to what you have.

To offer this service to my clients is incredibly important to my team and me. The studio doors are always open to chat through your treasures and the stories attached. If you would like to discuss recycled gold and reimagine your treasures get in touch.

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