Everything old is new again. Let me ask you, do you have any old silver and/or gold jewelry laying around that you don’t know what to do with? Maybe it’s outdated, or broken, or just not your style? Sound familiar ? I definitely have a stash of old broken, mismatched silver I just wasn’t sure what to do with it. It’s valuable, so I didn’t want to get rid of it, but I wasn’t using it either. So what to do?
I got a message a couple months ago from Alica. Alicia is a goldsmith who create beautiful, new, one of kind pieces out of your old jewelry. When Alica asked me if I would be interested in being involved in her Metamorphosis Project, I was beyond excited to repurpose my old into something new. I went through my stash of old pieces. Items I was no longer loving or wearing and some broken. Here is what I brought to Alicia.
So, just what did Alicia create for me? The most beautiful set of three stacker rings. Seriously! I could not have imagined my old, not being worn, jewelry to be transformed into pieces I’m now wearing almost everyday. Curious about the inspiration behind these rings? Her inspiration, in her words: “Getting a sense of Jen’s style was pretty easy thanks to the deep creep I did on her instagram (go to her IG here) and blog. I have a new appreciation for the colour yellow thanks to Jen and how she wears and styles the colour! As such, I decided to add 14k yellow gold to the three stackable silver rings I chose to make her.
One band has five mini-hydrangeas in 14k yellow gold to represent each member of her family (hydrangeas are her favourite flower that make her think of her grandmother). They aren’t symmetrically placed nor are they perfect. At first this made me nervous but nothing in life is perfect which is what makes things imperfectly perfect. When I told Jen this, she added that she is an advocate of body positivity and loving ourselves in however shape we come so this ring actually really speaks to her! How perfect!
The second band at first just seemed like a design that would pair well with the hydrangea-band, but as I made it I got thinking about all the dualities in life but especially those of motherhood. We may be mum’s, but we are still women with individual personalities outside of what motherhood requires and it’s important for us not to forget that. We can’t pour from an empty cup so it’s important to take care of ourselves.
I set the third band with 12 citrines (yellow! And also her birthstones) because mum’s are always on…24 stones would have been more accurate to represent 24 hours in a day but I was thinking of a 12 hour clock.
They can be worn together or alone and pair well with most outfits.”
I had a ton of questions for Alicia when I started this process, and figure you may too. If you’re interested in starting your own Metamorphosis project, ready my Q&A with Alicia. You can also check out her website here and you can follow her on Instagram here.
1) Can anyone come in with old jewelry and get a new piece made?
Appointments are by referral so please be sure to say Jen Pistor sent you! I often do custom jewellery events at boutiques around town and you don’t need to be a referral for those! I usually list these events in my Instagram profile! I will be at the New Westminster Cultural Crawl on October 17/18 and I’ll be stationed at Good Omen Shop (the cutest gift boutique)!
2) What kind of materials can customers bring to you?
Any precious metals such as silver, gold, and platinum! And if you don’t have enough materials (metal or stone), I can supply them for you!
3) What if I’m not sure if some of my old jewelry is real gold or silver? Can you test it to see?
I can test it for you!
4) I have an old heirloom piece, but it’s not really my style. Can you create something new with old, vintage pieces?
Absolutely! I can melt the whole thing down or we can salvage part of it if there’s any part of it you like or that could be useful (a stone’s setting for example). I love seeing the different kinds of jewellery people bring me!
5) What if I’m not sure what I want to get made? Can you help with the design process?
Yes I can! Some people know exactly what they want, some bring several ideas and we combine them, and some tell me what they are looking for but they leave the jewellery design process up to me! I normally give customers a few designs to pick from and then we go from there!
6) Is there anything else people should know about this process?
Custom jewellery takes anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks to make, depending on the design. There’s two ways to establish the design process: 1) someone comes in with a budget and an idea of what they want which requires all new materials (this often happens for engagement rings), 2) someone brings in their old jewellery for me to melt and then I quote them on either the design they have brought me or I get back to them with design ideas/quotes.
A lot of the preliminary consultation work for custom pieces can be done via phone/email/instagram which cuts down on the in-person meeting times (great during these covid-times)! Happy to chat jewellery if you have any questions! ~ Alicia
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