Reusing Metal
Reusing precious metal isn't quite so straightforward as reusing gemstones, but it is definitely possible. We can melt down old gold to form a new ring to your design - get in touch to discuss it with one of our designers if this is something you'd like to do.
Gold can be melted down and reformed on a ring by ring basis in the workshop. It works better for simple bands like wedding rings than rings with a gemstone set into them, as there is a danger that tiny air bubbles will form which could cause problems with a fine setting. You also can't change the alloy - so for example we can't turn yellow gold to white gold with this process.
There are two reasons to do this - if the metal itself holds sentimental value, for example from a grandparent's ring, or for ethical reasons, so no new mining has to take place.
Unfortunately because of the time and process involved, it doesn't tend to work out any cheaper than using 'new' gold, and you also need to be aware that you always seem to end up with less metal than you think you're going to. If you're not using new gold for ethical reasons and you end up with not quite enough, we have found various solutions in the past from getting our customer to source another old ring in the same alloy, to making the difference up with scraps from other jobs which means that no new gold is ordered, and the scraps are recycled without going back to the refiners first.
We can't melt down platinum in this way in the workshop, but what we can do is be creative about making a design that reuses parts of an existing piece of jewellery. So for example we can reuse the shank (the part that goes round the finger), perhaps changing the profile slightly, and then add a new setting to hold your gemstones.
Discussing these things with a designer is all part of deciding what the perfect ring for you is, and we do everything we can to make it work for you.
If you have an old piece of jewellery you'd like to discuss reusing please contact us with a picture of it.
More information can be found in the redesigning your existing engagement ring section of commissioned engagement rings.
Related blog articles
- Harriet's blog article on reusing platinum.
