The Art of Re-design – Modernizing Your Old Jewelry

We all have it. That drawer with rings you will never wear, orphan earrings, jewelry from an ex, meaningful necklaces that don’t match anything else. You could sell them for their precious metals. Instead, consider taking those pieces to an expert jewelry designer to help you see the options for creating something new.

Jewelry is about tradecraft. Design is about art. I love working in gold and diamonds and seeing my designs become part of the notable events in a client’s life. Designing new pieces from scratch is one type of art – producing something from nothing. Re-design is more of a puzzle – using existing material to match a personality.

The re-design process is about understanding the client. What do you like to wear? What’s your style? What do the pieces mean to you?  It’s amazing how collaborating with different clients with similar pieces brings out entirely different designs. 

It’s still important to evaluate the raw materials: Grading stones and pearls, the amount of gold, platinum, silver. You don’t want to put two different color pearls next to each other. The grade of the diamond decides how prominent you make it.

The process has to be collaborative, discussing the options for the design, creating hand drawn sketches, and the final design in rendered color and watching the client’s expression as different ideas are presented.  The end piece should reflect personality, not compete with it.
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The tradecraft is crucial to re-design. Knowing how to melt gold, roll chains, create castings, knotting a pearl, it’s all crucial to creating a beautiful heirloom piece. It’s amazing how collaborating with different clients brings out entirely different designs.
The last step is watching the expression on the client’s face when presenting the finished piece. At the end of it, jewelry is about emotion and brilliant design should bring out awe.