Remodelling Inherited Jewellery in Hatton Garden
Most inherited jewellery is not worn. It sits in a drawer because it is not to the owner's taste, or does not fit, or is too precious to risk — and a piece nobody wears is doing nothing for anybody. Remodelling takes what matters from it, usually the stones, and builds something that gets worn. The part worth being clear about before you start is that not everything in the old piece is worth carrying into the new one, and a jeweller who tells you otherwise is selling you sentiment.
What the work involves
- The assessment comes first
- Before anything is agreed, the piece is looked at properly: what the stones are, what condition they are in, whether they will survive being unset, and what the metal actually is. Some pieces should not be remodelled at all — a period piece with real collector value is worth more intact than reset, and we will say so rather than take the commission.
- The stones almost always carry over
- Diamonds and most hard gemstones come out of an old setting and go into a new one without difficulty. Softer stones — opal, emerald, pearl, anything with existing fractures — carry real risk in unsetting, and that risk is worth stating out loud before the work starts rather than discovering afterwards. Old cuts are worth keeping as they are: an antique cushion or old European cut has a character a modern brilliant does not, and recutting it to modern proportions destroys exactly what makes it interesting.
- The metal usually does not
- This is the part people are surprised by. Melting down old gold sounds thrifty and it is usually the wrong call — mixed alloys of unknown composition produce porous, unpredictable metal that is a poor foundation for a piece meant to last. The better arrangement is almost always to have the old gold weighed and credited against the new commission, so its value goes into the ring without its metal going into the ring.
- Designing the new piece
- From there it is a normal commission: what you want, drawn and agreed before anything is cut. If a single inherited stone is going into a ring, the setting is designed around that stone's actual dimensions rather than a standard size, which is one of the reasons this work has to be done from the piece rather than from a photograph.
What to know before you commit
- Sentimental value is not resale value, and both are real
- A ring can be worth very little as metal and stones and be the most important object somebody owns. Those are different questions and it helps to keep them apart: what a piece is worth decides whether remodelling makes financial sense, and what it means decides whether that matters. Plenty of remodelling is worth doing on pieces that are worth almost nothing.
- Some pieces are worth more left alone
- Signed period jewellery, anything with a maker's mark that collectors follow, and unusual antique cuts in original settings can all be worth considerably more intact. If a piece looks like it might be one of those, it is worth having it looked at by somebody who values that market before a bench takes it apart. Remodelling is not reversible.
- One stone, one piece
- Splitting a piece between several family members sounds fair and often ends badly — the stones are rarely equivalent, and dividing a set destroys whatever the set was. It can be done, and it is worth thinking hard about first.
Common questions
Can you reset a diamond from an inherited ring?
Yes, and it is a large part of what this bench does. A diamond comes out of an old setting and into a new one without difficulty in almost every case. Bring the ring in and we will tell you honestly what the stone is, what condition it is in, and whether resetting it is worth doing — before you commit to anything.
Should I melt down old gold to make a new ring?
Usually not. Old gold of unknown alloy melts unpredictably and can leave porosity in the new piece, which is a poor foundation for something meant to last decades. The better route is nearly always to have the old gold weighed and credited against the commission — the value of the gold goes into the new ring even though the metal itself does not.
Can an old-cut diamond be recut to look more modern?
It can, and we would usually advise against it. Recutting loses weight and, more importantly, loses the character that makes an old European or old mine cut worth having — the larger facets and softer fire that a modern brilliant does not produce. An old cut set into a modern setting keeps its character and looks contemporary anyway.
What if the inherited piece is not worth remodelling?
We will tell you. Sometimes the stones are too damaged to reset safely, sometimes the piece is worth more intact than reworked, and sometimes the sensible answer is to leave it alone. An honest assessment before any work starts is worth more to you than a commission, and it costs nothing to have the conversation.