You’ve just received Aunt Betty’s, well-worn heirloom ring. You want to wear it but are afraid to because of the condition. What to do? There are several options for rings and any other item of jewelry that has either been happily worn into poor condition or just isn’t in style anymore.
The piece can be duplicated. If it is a simple design, this is usually no problem. The jeweler will make a wax mold of the piece, recast it in whatever metal you choose and reset the stones. Don’t plan on using the original metal in the new piece, however. Whether you had gold or platinum, both have been mixed with either other metals or other platinums and must be refined by professionals before they can be reused. If not, porosity occurs and that can be unsightly or unsafe.
For more complicated pieces, such as filigree work, there is something new available that is very exciting. Some jewelers have a CAD/CAM operation which stands for computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing. A design can be scanned into the computer and a milling unit then carves the wax. This is a tremendous time and money saver. Making an intricate ring by hand is both time-consuming and expensive and the end result may not be what you had in mind. With the CAD/CAM, you can view your piece, make changes and know exactly what the finished product will look like. This is also a great way of redesigning jewelry. You can bring your jeweler several ideas from magazines and he can create a piece that is unique, just for you.
Yantz Bradbury Associates
P.O. Box 10123
Rockville, Maryland 20850
Office: (301) 335-6687
Serving MD, VA and DC Metro Area
sherlene@ybassociates.net
or
slydiamond@ybassociates.net