You inherited something precious that you will never wear. Here is what can actually be done with it — reset, reworked, divided among family — and how to keep the story while changing the piece.
Start here, because this is the part people quietly struggle with: a piece that sits unworn in a drawer honors no one. The ring your grandmother wore every day was made for her hand, her era, her taste. Remaking it so it lives on yours isn't erasing her — it's the reason heirlooms exist. The stone that watched sixty years of her life can watch sixty of yours.
If the guilt still nags, keep a part of the original intact: her engraving transferred to the new band, one element of the old design quoted in the new one, or the original setting kept unaltered in its box while the stone moves on.
Stones almost always survive. Diamonds, sapphires and rubies are extraordinarily durable; they can usually be unset, checked and reset without drama. Softer stones — emeralds, opals, pearls — are examined first, and we'll tell you honestly what a stone can take before anything is touched.
Metal is case by case. Old alloys vary in how they take to being reworked, and solder joints, plating and decades of wear all have a say. Sometimes inherited gold serves structurally in the new piece; sometimes it's better carried symbolically — a small element of the old metal set into the new work. At the consultation we'll tell you plainly what your metal can and can't do, before you decide anything.
It begins the way every commission does — with a conversation. Tell us about the piece and whose it was; the story is the design brief. From there: three sketched concepts, a photorealistic 3D render of your favorite, and up to two rounds of revisions. You see the new design from every angle, at true scale, before any metal is touched — and nothing is unset or cast until you approve it.
Once your design is defined you receive a detailed quote, so the full cost is known before production begins. The $60 design fee that opens the commission is credited toward the final price. More on the service itself on our heirloom redesign page.
Almost always, yes. Diamonds, sapphires and rubies survive decades of wear easily; softer stones are examined first. At the consultation we check each stone's condition, and you approve the plan before anything is unset.
Inherited metal can often be reworked into a new piece, and when it can't serve structurally it can still be incorporated — or kept intact alongside the new work. What your metal can and can't do depends on its alloy and condition, and we'll tell you plainly at the consultation.
One heirloom can become several pieces: a brooch's stones split across two rings and a pendant, for example, so each person carries part of the original. This is one of the most meaningful commissions we take on.
A piece that sits unworn in a drawer honors no one. Redesigning it so it's worn — with its stones, its metal and its story carried forward — is usually the opposite of disrespect. We keep what matters: the stone, an engraving, a detail of the original design. See how heirloom redesign works.
Tell us about the piece, and whose it was. A $60 design fee, credited toward your final price, opens your commission — and we'll reply within one business day.
Begin an heirloom redesign