Wedding Rings Made with Sentiment from Melted Down Family Gold
Karina was always promised her Mum’s wedding ring whenever anything happened to her Mum. Sadly this could not be the case. I suggested she had a look to see if she had any jewellery of her Mum’s or Dad’s that I could melt down and make her a new ring replicating the original ring. She did, there was enough for me to make a plain wedding band for her sister and from a photograph of Karina's Mum I made a replica wedding ring. As I hammered the piece of gold I could literally see it transforming, this felt an immensely special moment for me. With the satisfaction and knowledge that I could fulfill Karina's dream.
The ring is now Karina's prized possession. She is not normally a 'jewellery person' and she says this is the most precious object she owns and never takes it off. Melting down unused gold is not only a good choice for sentimental remodelling and making jewellery, but also for recycling and looking after our planet. Did you know, to produce one new gold wedding band produced 20 tonnes of waste!
“Jayne created a beautiful necklace for my daughter’s wedding day. She used some gem stones from jewellery I had been given years before by my grandmother. This old jewellery was very old fashioned and had been left in a drawer for many years. Jayne made some fabulous suggestions to update the gems into a modern necklace suitable for a young woman.”
Make Your Own Wedding Rings
Richard had lost his original wedding ring to the sea bed. So Richard and Maxine decided to celebrate seven years of marriage by coming to me to make new wedding rings. With a few questions beforehand about size and width etc to ensure plain sailing on the day, we booked a date and set a day aside. It wasn't pre-planned but on the day it seemed natural for Maxine to make Richard’s and Richard to make Maxine's, adding that extra sentiment. Every step of the way they made their own rings under my guidance, learning about sawing, hammering, soldering, filing and polishing.
It's a really satisfying feeling making your own wedding rings and doing it together makes it a day to remember forever.
Another option is to use your own family gold which may have once been your Mother’s or Grandmother’s, Fathers etc. This makes it such a sentimental and special wedding ring to last a life time.
For Fiona I started with drawings, my designs being purposely simple as I felt this was called for with using such quality precious gem stones. Although initially the drawings still had too much detail until I stripped the design right back to exemplify the purity and clarity of the beautiful stones. I sent Fiona photographs of the drawings. She agreed on the design and work began. Importantly creation was always with Alice in mind: a young girl on her wedding day. Everything was hand made around these antique stones. The pendant needed to be discrete with an appropriate length of chain. I chose to add an extension chain to give her further options. I also chose rhodium plating and a high polish for the whole piece. For Fiona and Alice this is now a timeless and treasured bespoke heirloom that holds so much sentiment. Because of the simplicity of the piece it is worn every day and with anything she wears.
Repurposed Into Something Meaningful
Fiona came to me for ideas for a special gift to be made from family heritage jewellery, that were beautiful. They had been hidden in the back of a draw and had not been worn as they were considered to be dated.It was a splendid collection of pieces. There were many quality stones to choose from. However all the gold was yellow.
I suggested that we sold some 9ct yellow gold bangles in order to purchase 18ct white gold for a pendant that might be more appropriate for Alice to wear on her wedding day. Together we chose from the family collection a stunning Aquamarine to represent something blue, a beautiful diamond to show love for Alice's Mother. We chose a gorgeous white opal as it has the properties of protection and of picking up emotion energies that we agreed were ideal for the wedding.
“It is always a pleasure and honour to work directly with clients and to let their own personality flow into the process of designing, making and creating, producing a very personal piece of jewellery.”
— Jayne Rozario