Why Recycling Jewelry Is Important
Not only is recycling old jewelry good for the environment – but it’s good for your budget too! Re-purposing broken, out-of-style pieces into new custom jewelry helps the planet, saves you money and, best of all, retains the memories! At Scott’s Custom Jewelers, we’re experts at creating new jewelry stories with our unique custom design process.
See how we created a gorgeous custom ring from jewelry that wasn’t worn any more!
Turning old jewelry into a stunning new ring
MM came to us with a challenge: could we turn her old wedding rings into a signature ring? Something that would make people saw WOW! No problem with our custom jewelry design process! Using CAD and 3D printers, we reused her diamonds, and even recycled her old gold into the new design.
Fun fact: jewelers recycle everything – even the floors of the workshop get recycled because there’s gold dust in them!
Schedule a jewelry design appointment
Scott can meet with customers either face-to-face, or using technology such as Skype or FaceTime.First, we met with MM and looked at what she had to work with. A stunning pear shaped diamond from her wedding ring, as well as many different sizes of round diamonds from a pendant and other jewelry she didn’t wear anymore. She knew that if she tried to sell them at a pawn shop, she wouldn’t get anywhere near what the diamonds were worth, so she wanted to include them in her new ring. Not having to buy new diamonds is a huge cost savings and a great way to recycle.
After our meeting, we decided to make a calla lily design, studded with diamonds. That would definitely be a showstopper!
Custom design process begins
Just like a tailor, we start with measurements. We removed the diamonds from old jewelry and took careful notes. The new custom ring would be tailor made to MM’s gemstones. We also weighed her old gold and sent it to our gold refiner who separates the gold from the alloys, and sends us purified, recycled gold nuggets that we use to cast the new piece of custom jewelry.
Another fun fact: we make all of our jewelry from recycled gold, which saves the environment.
After measuring the diamonds, Scott used our special CAD software to design the new ring. We then made photos of what the new design would look like and sent them to MM. She was able to see what the new custom ring would look like, AND make any changes, at no charge!
We use 3D printers to make jewelry
We use 3D printers to make actual models of our custom jewelry.Once we’re were on the right track with the photos, we made a real size, 3D model of her new custom jewelry design! That’s the super cool part of custom designing jewelry! MM was able to try on the 3D model and see if any changes needed to be made, again, at no extra charge. This step is really important to us, and makes Scott’s Custom Jewelers different from other custom jewelry stores.
After the 3D model was approved, the real fun starts!
We make all of our jewelry in our Dublin, OH store
Jeweler polishing the diamond ringNext we headed to the back of our shop, pulled out all of our tools and got to business. We can usually finish a design in a few weeks, because we do all of our work in our Dublin, Ohio (near Columbus) jewelry store. Yep, our jewelry is made completely in the US of A!
Last Fun Fact: Even with all of our cool technology, we still use the same tools and techniques that Scott’s grandfather used when he started his jewelry store over 90 years ago.
After carefully setting the diamonds and polishing the ring, it was time to send it home!
A new jewelry story
MM loved her new custom lily ring so much, she even planted calla lilies in her garden! The beautiful pear shaped diamond in one lily is bypassed with another lily cradling the gorgeous round diamonds. It truly is a work of art! MM wanted a signature ring – we think she got it.
Looking to learn more about recycling your jewelry into new designs? Call 614 336-4111 to schedule your custom jewelry appointment today.