Remodelling Jewellery

Taking something old and making it new

At Rings By Design, everything is bespoke. Own something made just for you, unique to you

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Book your appointment for remodelling jewellery here or call us on 0191 5843338.

Remodelling Your Jewellery

At Rings By Design, we know how sentimental certain pieces of jewellery can be. Whether it be a ring or necklace you wore when you were younger, or something you inherited from family, we can help you to upcycle jewellery so that you can wear it now.

We can also repair your jewellery so that it will last – click here

How does jewellery remodelling work?

There are three steps we work to so that you can be sure to get a piece of jewellery you love for a lifetime.

Step one

Book a free, no-obligation consultation in our Houghton Le Spring Workshop. Bring the jewellery you would like to upcycle with you along with any ideas of what you might like it transformed into.

Step two

We’ll examine your existing items to determine what materials we have to work with and explore designs of what you would like us to create. We’ll discuss what production techniques would be most appropriate and provide a quotation for the work.

Step three

Once you’re happy with everything we’ll take a deposit and get to work remodelling your jewellery for you.

Book Workshop Consultation

Initial Phone Call (15 Mins)

Frequently asked questions

Can you melt old jewellery down to make a new item?

This isn’t as straightforward to answer as you might think. It really depends on the design and weight of the new item and how much metal your old jewellery contains.

Some items can be formed from wire or sheet (Simple wedding bands up to a certain width for example). Other more elaborate designs need to be cast. If the new item can be formed from wire or sheet then it is often possible to simply melt the old jewellery and roll it into the desired sheet or wire shape.

If the new item needs to be cast then you need enough metal for the new item plus a reservoir of additional metal to form the sprue and button. If there is insufficient metal present when the cast occurs air bubbles and other imperfections are likely to occur in the new item. For this reason a minimum of approximately 20g of gold is required for casting.

I've inherited yellow gold but I only wear white. What can I do?

Unfortunately there is no way to turn yellow or rose gold into white or vice versa.

We often get asked if we can rhodium plate yellow gold to make it look white. Technically this is possible (& we’ll do it if you really want us to) but the plating will wear off really quickly & reveal the underlying colour again so it isn’t something we would recommend.

So what can be done?

If your inherited piece contains precious or semi-precious stones we could create a new item using fresh metal but incorporating your stones.

We could create a two colour piece using predominantly the colour you wear but accented with metal from your inherited item. For some items such as wedding bands we have even created a channel on the underside of the ring that is then filled with the inherited gold making it invisible when the ring is being worn.

Will my new jewellery be hallmarked?

That is entirely up to you. There is no legal requirement for us to hallmark jewellery that has been made using the customers own metal but if you would like it hallmarking we will be happy to arrange this for you. A hallmarking charge will apply.

Can I book a home or virtual consultation for Re-Modelling Work?

For remodelling work we prefer the customer to come into the workshop. This is because it is sometimes necessary to use specialist equipment to measure stones, assess metal types etc and this can only be done in the workshop environment.