Remodeling can be fun!
This week I’m sharing a pair of custom earrings I finshed recently. They came from a pair of old fashioned kind of cluster earrings with a centre sapphire and tiny diamonds all around. The brief was to make a new pair of earrings. The client likes an art deco kind of vibe, so I riffed off that and suggested a few different designs. We landed on these, carved in wax and cast in 14kt yellow gold, which came from the original earrings and some other miscellaneous jewellery that was languishing in her jewellery box!
They look even better in person! They’re cute little earrings, with a bit of bling.
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hand carved wax models for the earrings
Earrings finished, ready for stone setting.
I really enjoy bringing new life to jewellery, and it’s a great way to make the most of what you have, you get a lovely new piece of hand crafted jewellery , and you’ve upcycled bits that you already had! Have jewellery that just isn’t doing it for you anymore? Drop me a line, and let’s talk about how to do something with it that you will love again!
Making a statement- Sapphire and Diamonds
I love remodeling old jewellery and reusing stones for clients to make something fresh and new that they love! These two rings are part of these efforts—I recycled some gold from the client, and used their diamonds/sapphires to make these two new, unique pieces in sterling silver.
I love the asymmetric look, and the chunky feel to them!
How about you? What’s your favourite style? Dig through that jewellery box and renew those pieces you used to love!
Make a statement-- How I helped to bring vision to reality in earring form
I love doing custom pieces. It can be so rewarding bringing something new to life in collaboration with a client. I recently finished a spectacular pair of earrings. Some pieces are quick, and some are not so quick. These were the latter. This story starts about six months ago….. A lovely lady wandered into the studio with a fist full of stones removed from jewellery and a bunch of other jewellery that still needed to have the stones taken out of, and some quick sketches on a piece of paper. She had a clarity of vision that was spectacular! I did some sketches, and then we had a meeting. One of the first things she said to me was “I have big hair, I need big earrings”. Well, she got her wish!
The brief was for broken and run down wheels, incorporating as many stones as possible. These guys are massive- about 3.5 inches long! With some pretty big stones. The challenge was to incorporate lots of stones, but still keep them wearable. In the end, I suggested extending the wheels a bit, to incorporate a cluster of stones on a post, this allowed me to make them so that the stick and wheel units could be taken off the clusters, making the earrings more versatile. So, the client can wear the clusters as much as desired (because they’re a reasonable weight), and put on the dangling wheel on special occasions when she really wants that wow! factor.
Next, I prepped the waxes, and cast them (you can see them here with the stones placed. Each setting was done, and then I played a bit with the wax weight to try and keep the overall weight down. I didn’t worry so much about the finishing at this point, as I knew that I was going to have to modify them alot in the metal.
The stick units, ready for setting with their stones! I added posts and omega clips, as well as jump rings to the different units, and ate away at the metal to give it a distressed or aged look. Then it was time to have the stones set! Once that was done, I did some more work on eating away at the metal, and the oxidised them to give them an aged look. And voila! Finished earrings.
Mission Accomplished! These were so much fun to make, and the client was delighted with them. Diamonds and garnets and sapphires and topaz, oh my!
Do you have jewellery lurking in your box that you used to love, but don’t anymore? I can help you love it again! Drop me a line, let’s have a conversation.
Giving old jewellery new life-Earrings
When you love stones and pearls, but you’re a bit tired of what you have, you can always have them remade into something new and fresh! As a goldsmith in Toronto, being able to create a fresh look through custom jewellery in a unique way is important. This client loves pearls, and she had these sets of earrings, one set was a bit dated, and the other two were four separate pairs of earrings in various states. She came in with a very definite idea of what she wanted: everything remade in white gold, and combined in a more pleasing manner. As you can see, she got three pairs of elegant “new” pairs of earrings.
These pearl and garnet earrings had quite dated look, and they were okay in yellow gold, but not in the client’s taste. I took the earrings apart, recycled the yellow gold as a credit against the order, and remade the earrings in white gold, with a new and pleasing arrangement.
These peacock pearls and amethyst studs combined to create a lovely purple combination of stone/pearls in white gold with omega clips.
Similarly, these grey pearls and white studs set into slighly more pronounced cups give this combination an elegant and timeless look. Also set in white gold with omega clips.
Have some things in your jewellery box that you used to love, but don’t anymore? Contact me, and let’s have a conversation about what could be done to give them a new lease on life! All quotes are free and no obligation from contemporary custom art jewellery or Scottish kilts!