- DeniseSecunda
- 2 years ago
Don’t get mad at me, Bee! This is LITERALLY the first thing that went through my mind when I saw the title of your post!
Don’t get mad at me, Bee! This is LITERALLY the first thing that went through my mind when I saw the title of your post!
I also thought about doing this but was told by my jeweller that even though they were all 14k gold, the alloys involved could be different in each piece and that presents a problem with the meltdown as it can be unpredictable. He said it could be refined but that costs $$$ too. He also explained that if it is being poured into a mold then extra gold is needed for the ” plug” to top up the mold and there was the charge for that as well. He advised me just to use the stones and have them put into a new ring.
I love the idea. But it is important to find a jeweller you trust. My husband and I went to a local goldsmith and he melted down our grandparents’ wedding rings. We were there when he did it and he then weighed the piece of gold that was the result. He used a part of the gold to make our new rings and the rest that was not needed was part of the payment. There ARE jewellers and goldsmiths though who don’t do their own melting, so they send the material somewhere and are sent back the equivalent in weight. We didn’t want that but I trust our goldsmith that he really used the gold we gave him.
As pp’s have said, there are jewellers out there that are honest and will do what you are after, and for a much better price! Mine and hubby’s rings are old gifts we’ve given each other over the years before we got married. I found a local independent jeweller that traded out of his workshop so you could see all his tools and stations. He charged us £50 per ring for the melting, reworking and hallmarking of the gold, there was £20 of gold left over afterwards so we sold that back to him .
What Marriedalready said is right in most cases!! The reason they don’t use your gold is because when it’s melted it can have a tendency to crack this is the case because gold comes from different places in the world and mixed with different alloys that don’t always agree with each other, if that makes sense. Then you have a ring that might not have durability and a long life and can lose diamonds etc. I had this happen with a bangle I had made many years ago. It cracked and couldn’t be saved unfortunately. I love the sentiment behind your idea!! And maybe the jeweller might be willing to melt your heirlooms despite the risk and you may have no problems, fingers crossed. I’m sorry to hear you have lost someone recently. I hope your ring project works out because it’s a beautiful idea!!
Not a ring, but I melted a bunch of gold and added stones to make my ex husb a really cool custom 3d skull pendant. The jeweller was a real goldsmith, and he had no problem doing so and returned the extra unused, re processed gold. I would think any good goldsmith could.
I think your idea is amazing! The jeweler can probably add some copper to the alloy to get you a peach or rose gold! Were you thinking of sticking with yellow or changing it up? I know how much you love rose gold 🙂