Anyone had gold melted down and made into something new?

[trieditbuyedit]

Could anyone recommend me an independent jeweller that may be able to help?
I have a few pieces of my grandmothers gold jewellery, not huge amounts. Like a couple of charms and a broken bracelet.
I also happen to have a couple of loose (very small) diamonds from when I resized a tennis bracelet smaller.
I was thinking of having the gold melted down and made into a pendant with possibly the diamonds added into it? I'm picturing like a small gold pebble with three or four tiny sparkles
Has anyone on here done anything similar and happy to give any recommendations?
I search on google for jewellery designers but it's all big brands that come up really.

Yes I did this. Really pleased with the results. I went into the jewellery quarter in Birmingham though. Do you have something similar near you?

Hmm I don't think so, but I would travel for it !
Do you mind telling me how much yours cost? Just a ballpark figure?

I had a ring and some stud earrings made and it was £400 to design and make. I don't think they added any extra. Just took it from the jewellery I had ( a range of bits and pieces - mix of gold and silver. No diamonds unfortunately but a couple of small sapphires and a garnet).

The jewellery quarter is good. You can walk into a few places and get a feel for it. The jewellers there are pretty used to it (I and most of my friends had engagement/ wedding rings made from there). You could coincide it with a weekend there perhaps.

In London there's Hatton garden that's likely to be similar?

Charlotte Bezzant is a wonderful independent jeweller. If you are near her she might be worth considering.

I am thinking of asking her to do something similar for me - I have a number of pieces of hers.

Ooh I've just had a look at Charlotte Bezzant. Some beautiful pieces!

I had some gold melted down and made into a pendant, I also had some lovely diamonds inherited from the grandmothers engagement ring. I'm in Wiltshire and used an independent goldsmith fairly local to me and it cost me around £400 from memory. I love my pendant so much and wear it every day.

That's beautiful @Iamanunsafebuilding
What a lovely keepsake

I had that kind of figure (£400) in my mind so that's good to hear also

I really should proofread before I post! I inherited some lovely diamonds from MY grandmothers engagement ring not 'the' 🤦🏼‍♀️

I had my two grandmothers’ wedding rings melted down to make my wedding ring over 40 years ago. It was a local apprentice jeweller who made me exactly what I wanted. I still love it.Only downside there is no assay Mark but I’m not likely to sell it!

Yes I have. I had a bag of old gold of things I didn't wear any more - odd earrings, necklace, my old gate bracelet etc. A local independent jeweller near me told me that the value was around £700.

I had a large blue topaz set in a simple silver ring and also some blue topaz earrings again set in silver. I never wore them. I discussed a couple of designs with the jeweller and he melted the gold down and set the large and small stones in bezel settings - the large one as a pendant and the smaller ones were made into stud earrings. They are beautiful.

I had enough money left over for the jeweller to update a long gold old fashioned chain so that I had a bracelet and necklace.

It's definitely worth doing OP.

I follow Kate Smith Jewellery on Instagram and Helen Brice too, because I like their jewellery, but I have seen them do some lovely work with peoples old pieces and actually have a gold ring of my grandmothers that I am considering asking Kate to redesign so I can properly wear it.

Do you have any night schools near you with jewellery courses?
We have a silversmith course but the tutor allows you to use whatever metal you like as it's all at your own cost. I made a gold moon shaped pendant for a friend from scrap gold.

Sarah Clarke, whose business is called Fluidbydesign, offers this service. I haven't had jewellery melted down or remodelled by her myself, but did buy a beautiful gold pendant made by her some years ago, which I'm very pleased with.

I had a set of 2 plain bangles made out of old jewellery and then more recently had another one made from more scrap plus the diamonds out of a ring
They were £150 each to make plus a bit extra for setting in the diamonds
local jeweller

I can highly recommend someone in SW

I had my wedding ring that broke and couldn't be repaired made it to a necklace with a Pearl my son chose. Cost £640

I'm looking to do the same with some silver jewellery I got for my 18th but never wore. I've found a chap near me who I'll take it to as I love the style of his work: instagram.com/jasonjonesjewellery?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=.

Last year he quoted about £25/hr for the work, plus what ever cost for additional materials. I'm planning to get a bangle with some additions of sapphires.

A small jeweller in my local market also remakes bespoke items, so maybe look locally?

That is beautiful!