Here’s another example of Walker Goldsmiths working with a friend to recycle her beautiful old memories and broken jewelry into more modern wearable Custom Jewelry. Kathy came to us a while back with her little bag of broken and not wearable jewelry that she just couldn’t toss out or sell for scrap money. Some of the pieces have so many memories! We have been friends for a few years and we’ve done some minor jewelry repairs for her, but now she was wanting to trade out some bits and pieces for a couple of beautiful keepsakes. These pieces were piling up in the jewelry box and were not even wearable! So we collaborated and came up with a couple of designs.
Kathy and her husband had taken a cruise and while on that cruise had purchased a beautiful deep raspberry red Garnet, probably a Rhodolite. This Garnet was wanting to be in a ring so we accommodated. Kathy wanted a simple yet elegant design that Garnets lend themselves to so well. Red Garnets were the most commonly used gemstones by the Celtic peoples who roamed the Western Roman Empire. They have been found in burials inlaid in gold from Northern Europe to Anglo-Saxon England to the Black Sea. They have such deep rich appealing color and look so wonderful with gold. As you can see here in Kathy’s Custom 14kt Gold and Rhodolite Garnet Ring.
This Custom Ring pictured here has another great story. As a teenager Kathy had received a beautiful Pearl ring from a woman that was like a Grandmother to her. She had worn it and loved it until it was falling into bits. There was nothing we could do to the ring itself to revive it because it had become so fragile. The only thing possible was to create a stronger ring and incorporate a part of the original keepsake into it. I carved a wax that created a strong support for the original “swirl”, lost wax cast it in Kathy’s 14kt Gold, we put in a crown and set a 1 ct. size center stone. This was a very fun project because we could use a part from the original ring. The love, memories and magic now go forward into the new piece. I really think we can feel it! Now Kathy has a beautiful ring to help her remember the love of a sweet friend from her past. Walker Goldsmiths enjoys being a part of these “Love Stories”. Thank you, Kathy, for letting us help revive these memories by creating these beauties for you!