Recycling; a golden opportunity!

I apologise in advance for being shamelessly self-promoting but I had to blog this off my chest.

I've had a selection of (not very nice) diamond solitaires on one side for a while now. They were all good quality diamonds but the shanks and settings were either worn, poor quality or downright ugly! After much umming and ahhing I had a chat with the guys in our workshop to see what could be done. They've been based in the Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham since the 30's and have a treasure trove of gems - most of which were collected by the original owner and only see the light of day for special commissions.

After a good rummage through dozens of boxes and trays we found a packet of sapphires and rubies which had been purchased in 1941! All beautiful specimens and hand polished which just seemed like a huge bonus to us. We decided to make trilogy rings with them, not only as they are symbolic but also as they are really wearable and suit all hand shapes. The gold from the old shanks and settings went towards new, more fashionable white gold designs (gold being one of the oldest recycled materials it seemed quite fitting) and I have to say I'm really pleased with the results!



Our new/vintage selection of trilogy rings.

I love vintage but I admit I sometimes lack the imagination to wear it. This merger of vintage and modern really appealed to me as I hope it will to you too. And for me it's the first time that recycling hasn't involved diligent separation of plastic from cardboard and a garage full of rubbish... This was much more entertaining!!

So what do you think? Do you agree with re-invention or are you a strictly original type?

Signing off...