my mum's wedding ring

nihicib2

Hi all, mods if this is in the wrong place, please move

My mum passed away over twenty years ago when I was 19, I have her wedding ring, its a sapphire surrounded by diamonds, and more diamonds leading into a gold band. I never wear it as its quite an old fashioned design, I have short stumpy fingers and it just doesn't sit right on my hand and also I never wear gold, just silver, but for years now Ive been toying with the idea of creating a new ring from it. As in getting the stones removed and re-set into a new design on a silver band.

Im just wondering has anybody ever done this before and are there any things I should get done before hand to make sure I get the same stones back, like get it valued or something like that. If any of you have advice on a good silversmith or someone who would be able to design a new ring that would be great, Im in Donegal so Dublin/Galway would be about as far south as I could travel as I know I would have to make a few trips before the ring was ready.

Thanks in advance

braddun

you would be better selling it,than destroying it,

you could get it made bigger

nihicib2

braddun wrote: »

you would be better selling it,than destroying it,

you could get it made bigger

Its my mothers ring I would never sell it! Can stones not be removed from a ring and re-set into a new band? maybe not, I haven't a clue thats why Im on here asking, The ring fits me its just that I don't like its design and I would love to make a new ring from it so I could wear it

YellowSheep

Yes they can. My wife did the same thing. A Jeweler in Howth made her a new one with the old stone.

nosietoes

you'd be better off heading into a jewellers and asking them about it.

A friend of mine had a good experience with one of the shops in the lane between Grafton Street and Powerscourt Town Centre... think it was called The wedding ring shop.

She just melted down her granny's ring to make a new gold ring but they charged her 1/4 less than other shops had quoted her and seemed very used to dealing with vintage rings.

m'lady

braddun wrote: »

you would be better selling it,than destroying it,

you could get it made bigger

Why would she sell it when it was her mothers wedding ring? I also wouldn't call a ring being melted down being destroyed..

I'm very interested in this post, I've my nanny's engagement ring that I'd love to change and wear as same but it needs to be made bigger, and 'blinged' up a bit..

endacl

I have it on good authority that a ring can only be destroyed by casting it into the fire from whence it came.

Milly33

Bit of an odd reply there endacl!! I know my brother got something similar done for his wife, my mum had a silver ring with a diamond and they took the diamond out and set it in a new ring for his wife and used the rest to make his ring.. It was a jeweller up in clare who done it I can get the name if you like... I think you just need to go to someone trust worthy really and you will be ok

Greenmachine

Curious seeing all the different opinions in here. My mom inherent her mother and her grandmothers wedding ring when she passed almost twenty years ago.

nosietoes

Milly33 - endacl was making a joke based Lord Of the Rings.

Munstermissy

m'lady wrote: »

Why would she sell it when it was her mothers wedding ring? I also wouldn't call a ring being melted down being destroyed..

I'm very interested in this post, I've my nanny's engagement ring that I'd love to change and wear as same but it needs to be made bigger, and 'blinged' up a bit..

I did this with my gran's ring as I didn't wear it much and it was a shame to have it sitting in my jewelry box. I had the stones (ruby and diamond) taken out and made into a pendant which I practically wear everyday. There is a goldsmith in my town who made it for me.

Bring it to a jeweler that you trust and see what they can come up with

m'lady

Munstermissy wrote: »

I did this with my gran's ring as I didn't wear it much and it was a shame to have it sitting in my jewelry box. I had the stones (ruby and diamond) taken out and made into a pendant which I practically wear everyday. There is a goldsmith in my town who made it for me.

Bring it to a jeweler that you trust and see what they can come up with

I wonder can they actually add to a ring, like build it up so to speak..

blindside88

Just reading the replies here and I'm curious. Could those stones be set in a silver ring?

I've just never seen a silver and diamond ring before

Milly33

nosietoes wrote: »

Milly33 - endacl was making a joke based Lord Of the Rings.

Haha Im such a pleb sorry.. I knew it sounded familiar.. I was thinking wow that is a really harsh or weird reply to come back with sorry all. I am awake now...

Neyite

A jeweller can redesign something lovely for you.

I've gotten scrap jewellery - odd earrings, broken chains etc redesigned into a piece of jewellery for myself.

m'lady

Neyite wrote: »

A jeweller can redesign something lovely for you.

I've gotten scrap jewellery - odd earrings, broken chains etc redesigned into a piece of jewellery for myself.

Can you tell me was that expensive Neyite?

Neyite

m'lady wrote: »

Can you tell me was that expensive Neyite?

I didn't get it done here - it was on holidays, and I asked them to match an existing piece of jewellery. I got 12 gemstones added to the design that was not a part of my scrap jewellery so I paid extra for those.

I think that if I went to buy the same piece of jewellery, price-wise, there would not be much in the difference, but what I really wanted was a matching item, and liked the idea of having my granny's odd earring, a chain my mother used to wear or a broken ring from my childhood incorporated into it.

What I would suggest, especially if its a ring that's being designed, that you go to jewellers and try on similar styles to see if they suit you. I had a particular style in mind when choosing my engagement ring but when I tried it, it looked crap, but the one I picked gets great compliments because it suits my hand.

m'lady

Neyite wrote: »

I didn't get it done here - it was on holidays, and I asked them to match an existing piece of jewellery. I got 12 gemstones added to the design that was not a part of my scrap jewellery so I paid extra for those.

I think that if I went to buy the same piece of jewellery, price-wise, there would not be much in the difference, but what I really wanted was a matching item, and liked the idea of having my granny's odd earring, a chain my mother used to wear or a broken ring from my childhood incorporated into it.

What I would suggest, especially if its a ring that's being designed, that you go to jewellers and try on similar styles to see if they suit you. I had a particular style in mind when choosing my engagement ring but when I tried it, it looked crap, but the one I picked gets great compliments because it suits my hand.

Thanks for your reply Neyite. I have this ring 15 odd years and I'd love to be able to wear it, I'm definitely going to look into it.