From your no longer worn post-matrimony baubles to shiny new jewels you'll treasure for their self-love, creativity, and therapeutic journey.
Experience the healing power of hammering, torching, and redesigning your once-precious gold and diamond wedding rings. Our re-design class guides you step by step through the process of cutting, altering, deconstructing, melting, deforming or otherwise manipulating your old jewelry into a beautiful new design of your choice. Feel confident in knowing that we'll effectively reduce your old pieces into the most basic of their elements -- gold, diamonds, and gems.
Throughout the course of a day (or two, depending on the demands of your existing jewelry and your vision), you'll work hand in hand with one of our talented master metalsmith-designers. We'll help you from the design stage through to the final polish, and ensure that you leave with a refreshing, beautiful design that makes you feel invigorated, beautiful, and excited to wear your jewelry again.
The physical experience of re-creating such emotion-laden pieces with your own two hands is powerful -- some have called it healing or therapeutic -- and we love seeing the joy and revitalization that our clients get from these one of a kind experiences.
(Read: fire, melting, and beating the crap out of your old gold. Want to pretend it's your ex's face, or lawyer? Go for it -- We're not here to judge.)
What's the process of Re-Making your Divorce Jewelry?
We offer two workshop variations in order to accommodate all of our clients, regardless of the style of their existing rings. Each of these courses comes with an initial free consultation, during which we'll take a look at your existing pieces and discuss options as well as what class is a best fit for you. Once we've decided on a course and have a general idea of design, we'll choose a date!
Fabrication Course (one day):
This course is perfect for the client with with mostly metal parts to work with. This is typically a completely metal wedding band (or bands) and largely metal engagement ring (solitaires, three stone rings, but not micro-pave designs, or pieces covered in lots of tiny diamonds).
Clients will primarily utilize foundation fabrication methods (cutting, bending, hammering, texturing, soldering, etc) to turn their existing jewelry into a new pendant, pair of earrings, or ring(s). Most students will create a single piece of jewelry during this course, although some may be able to create two depending on the complexity of their chosen designs and starting material. In either case, it is not uncommon that a client have a small amount of left over gold they can utilize for future custom design projects.
Designs in our one-day course are perfect for the minimalist, as they tend to champion simplicity, clean lines, and have an easy-to-wear-everyday aesthetic. Designs will be discussed and finalized on a case-by-case basis, and we'll work with you one on one to develop a design that you love, and will love to wear.
The one day course is available for designs in yellow gold, white gold, and sometimes for palladium or platinum (see note below).
This class is approximately 8 hours long.
Casting Course (two days):
This course is for those who have rings with lots of diamonds, gemstones, intricate design work or patterning, or designs with two or more different metals. With these designs, we'll typically need to melt down your old metal in order to create a new design.
Instead of working in metal, you'll work in wax! On day one, you'll carve, file, and manipulate your master design, which will then be used to create a one-time-use mold that we heat in a kiln overnight. On day two, we'll melt your old metal into a pretty little puddle, and sling it into the mold we've created from your carving. Once your piece is metal, we'll spend the rest of the day cleaning it up and making it pretty.
This class is approximately 8 hours long each day.
*your rings will need to be sent in ahead of time so that our jewelers can remove your stones ahead of class time. It's a tedious process, and must be done by professionals, so we'd rather not waste precious class time having you watch us do this part. Not to worry -- you'll get all your stones back the first day of class!
Technical details + Add On's:
Diamonds, Gemstones, and other Embellishments:
If you would like to incorporate any of your existing diamonds or gemstones, we're here to help. The process of setting your stones is highly technical and a very advanced technique, so that's a stage in the process that must be left for our in-house jewelers. Katie or Danielle can guide you through the options of adding in one or more of your stones after you've completed all of the metalwork for your new design. Other embellishments, such as hand engraving, can also be added post-creation.
Pricing varies depending on all sorts of variables, and your specific design, so we'll chat with you one-on-one to find a perfect way to incorporate these elements.
Additional Material Needs:
Sometimes a design will require the purchase of additional gold parts and pieces: small jump rings, wire, chains, or earring components. We'll help you determine the costs as we're helping guide you through your design options.
Notes about Platinum or Palladium:
Unfortunately, Platinum and Palladium can be a bit trickier to work with. Some designs are available -- but options are more limited. If your rings are platinum, we'll discuss the options with you one-on-one. Platinum and palladium re-designs are only available in our one day course.
Not sure about the hands-on part?
If you're nervous, don't be! We work with absolute beginners on a daily basis, and we've designed this class specifically for first timers.
If you love the idea of a redesign, but are hesitant to dive in yourself OR you have a very specific or intricate new design in mind -- this class might not be for you. Instead, you might find that you're a perfect candidate for an artisan custom re-design project. Katie or Danielle will work with you one-on-one to create and fabricate a beautiful new piece utilizing your old gold and stones, and we'll do all the hard lifting.
Learn more about our custom design process by clicking here.
BOOKING YOUR DIVORCE JEWELRY REDESIGN CLASS:
We recommend calling us for a free consultation to discuss the details of your existing jewelry and your project before purchasing.
