Many of us will have a piece of old gold jewellery that we hardly ever wear - perhaps because it is not our style or it is uncomfortable. Although it is rarely worn, we are reluctant to sell it, maybe because it has some sentimental value or is a treasured family heirloom.  

I can tell you that it doesn't need to sit inside your cupboard and not be used. You could always upcycle the piece of jewellery and remodel it into something that you can love and wear all the time.

This is something we can offer with our bespoke service at Milina London, so here I explain the process of reusing old gold to make new jewellery, the types of jewellery we can create and the benefits of doing this.

How we can reuse your old gold to make new jewellery

With a jewellery remodelling service, you can upcycle your old gold into a new piece of stylish and classic jewellery. Whether you have an old gold ring, pendant, pair of earrings, or even just a piece of gold, this can be altered, keeping your favourite aspects of the piece, or melted down and forged into a new piece.

Jewellers who offer a custom or bespoke service (like we do at Milina London) will usually be able to recast your jewellery into something new. We can even combine multiple pieces together - for example, if you have multiple gold rings we could fuse these to make a wider stacked ring.

To reuse your old gold for new jewellery, we will have to melt it down and see how it can be used. When we do this, we do have to check the purity of the metal. Previously, jewellery may have been made with a lower grade of gold.

If we find that it’s not worth reusing the gold in your old jewellery, we can still use parts of it, such as having the stones reset into a new piece or having a custom piece made that incorporates the old gold but adds something else. 

We will also need to check if the stones can be removed and reset without damaging them. For example, emeralds are very delicate and can easily fracture. So, if the setting does not allow for the stone to be removed easily, we may have to take the entire setting and use it.  

Below, you can see an example of jewellery we have remodelled using old gold. This is a wedding ring that was inspired by our client's grandfather's ring and was made using their existing gold.

 

What can be done with remodelled gold jewellery?

There are a number of reasons you might want to reuse your old gold and make it into a new piece of jewellery. I take a look at just a few of these below:

Treasured family heirloom 

Many people will have a piece of jewellery they have inherited from a loved and dear relative. However, most of the time this may not be a piece you can wear as it is. Therefore, you can have the piece remodelled into a new piece to your taste, keeping aspects of the heirloom that you’d like intact. 

Engagement ring
Many people will have an engagement ring in their family that has been passed down through generations and carries a great deal of meaning. Or, they may just have a piece of gold that they would like to incorporate into an engagement ring.

Either way, this can be a beautiful way to preserve that history but still create an entirely new ring for your engagement. Sometimes we can also reset old gemstones into an engagement ring. You may also have some loose stones that can be used.

Wedding ring

Similarly, you may have a wedding ring in your family that has been passed down to family members.

Gift

If you’re looking for an incredibly thoughtful gift, what could be better than repurposing a piece of existing gold and getting it made into beautiful and bespoke jewellery for your friend or loved one?

Personal attachment

There doesn’t need to be a special occasion for you to reuse old gold and make new jewellery with it. It can just be as simple as you wanting to preserve something, make use of what you have available to you and upcycle existing materials. All to create a stunning new piece designed especially for you.

I hope this exploration of how you can repurpose old gold you have and use it to create new jewellery has been useful! You can read more about our dedicated bespoke service here.