Heirloom Jewelry.

[jewelerman]

When it comes to inherited jewelry(antique or modern)... Are you in the camp that re-designs,sells or melts the jewelry OR are you the sentimental purist who whats to keep( and wear) the jewelry as original to pass down to the next generation?

 

[Lottie]

For me that would completely depend on what it was like and who it was from. If it had memories attached or I knew that the giver had loved the piece then I could never tamper with it, but if it was a beautiful stone in a hideous pendant/ring/whatever with no emotional attachment then fine.

 

[LaraOnline]

If there is even the slightest modicum of style or beauty (to my eye) I would do what I could to retain the essential beauty and integrity of the piece. However, the reality is that as fashions change, our expectations of a piece will also change, and so some tweaking might be required to make it totally relevant and 'beautiful' once more.
THe longer the piece is left untouched, the more likely it will be beautiful and useful left just as is. I would think very carefully before melting down an estate piece for this reason.

 

[melave]

Geez Lara i feel like i am following you on posts what are you doing up so early anyway girl?

I agree with Lottie. It would depend on the sentimentality i think and also who it came from. If it was from my grandmother, i would not touch it, as she had no jewellery, so if i had ended up with a piece it would stay as is.

From my mum, it would depend on the piece. She has a lot of mall jewellery that i wouldn't hesitate modifying or even selling but she has this huge plainish rose gold ring (looks like a man's ring) that i would never touch as i know the history behind it

 

[yennyfire]

I agree with Lara on this one. I have a few pieces from my grandmother that I don't really care for, but because I know that she loved them, I won't touch them. Other antique pieces with no personal history, it would depend. I am currently looking for an OEC to match a stone I own and have been trying to find something in a really ugly setting so that I can "liberate" it. However, it's proving harder than I thought to find the right stone in an ugly enough setting, lol!

 

[LaraOnline]

Geez Lara i feel like i am following you on posts what are you doing up so early anyway girl?

Birthday party today! couldn't sleep! Geez I've had the most drawn-out brthday in history heheh

ONce you get to 100 year old plus, it would become difficult to break it down...
...but more modern pieces...particularly if they are poorly made...although on a forum like this I'm thinking people would only pull apart jewellery if the stones are special...
When it comes to diamonds, there probably are fewer rules, because the actual diamonds are so valuable?
It's quite common for diamonds to go from piece to piece to piece, isn't it?

At the end of the day, it's better for valuable and beautiful old stones to be worn, not locked in a box.

Did I just totally contradict myself
But melting down some 9k Victorian mourning jewellery because it's 'morbid' or you want the scrap, sorry, but that just philistine-ism in my view. I have a lovely old garnet locket that is just beautiful...the individual components are worth little...together, it all adds up to a highly decorative and interesting piece, even if the aesthetic is not modern.

 

[Amys Bling]

For me that would completely depend on what it was like and who it was from. If it had memories attached or I knew that the giver had loved the piece then I could never tamper with it, but if it was a beautiful stone in a hideous pendant/ring/whatever with no emotional attachment then fine.

Ditto your post Lottie

 

[Kaleigh]

I have been blessed with many heirloom pieces.. I am holding on to them to pass them down . My kids have a great appreciation for them and would have my head if I sold a piece. Not that it would ever happen just saying. They are true blue pricescopers...

 

[decodelighted]

My grandmothers had some nice pieces that I can't imagine undoing -- but I don't know if I'd be as attached to antique pieces I'd bought on, say, Ebay.

The generation right above me ... my mom & aunt ... their stuff is '50s & up. Sentimental - yes. Antique - not yet, right? Hoping I have a few decades yet before any of THAT comes up.

 

[HollyS]

I wear my mother's original 1958 wedding band with my own set. Its very vintage-ness is why I love it.

I have the diamond wedding rings of both of my grandmothers, and another e-ring from one of my great-aunts. All three of those rings are from the '20s to the '30s, with excellent diamonds and original art deco settings. I would never choose to reset them.

When my nieces are older, wiser, and finally know the real worth of having such family heirlooms, I'll probably give each of them a ring.

 

[distracts]

But melting down some 9k Victorian mourning jewellery because it's 'morbid' or you want the scrap, sorry, but that just philistine-ism in my view. I have a lovely old garnet locket that is just beautiful...the individual components are worth little...together, it all adds up to a highly decorative and interesting piece, even if the aesthetic is not modern.

I agree with this with regards to antique or near-antique pieces.

But for other things - it totally depends on how much I like it. If I inherited it but am not going to wear it, it needs to either be given to someone who will or taken apart... I would only sell it if there was nothing salvageable. Both of my grandmothers had excellent taste though, so usually it's not a problem.

My paternal grandmother is the ultimate at altering heirloom pieces. I don't know of any she inherited that she didn't change. She had a ring, her engagement or wedding ring, that had originally been a plain gold wedding band from my grandfather's family, dated in the 1870s (or 1850s? I don't remember). Yeah, she drilled some holes and popped some diamonds in that thing, then put some sterling decorations on the outside. BAM! The original inscription on the inside is still intact though, as well as the one from her wedding.

 

[Phoenix]

If there is even the slightest modicum of style or beauty (to my eye) I would do what I could to retain the essential beauty and integrity of the piece. However, the reality is that as fashions change, our expectations of a piece will also change, and so some tweaking might be required to make it totally relevant and 'beautiful' once more.
THe longer the piece is left untouched, the more likely it will be beautiful and useful left just as is. I would think very carefully before melting down an estate piece for this reason.

Hi Lara! Welcome back!! Long time no see!

I'm of the same sentiment as Lara. I'd try and preserve the designs, but unfortunately my mom's pieces were so much larger for me (rings too large) and unfortunately not to my taste, so I reset the diamonds into pieces that I can actually wear.

I'm a bit miffed to be honest, since she left me practically all her jewellery, but I gave the majority away to my nieces and sisters who have decided not to wear them. I have no idea what they've done with mom's jewellery!

 

[diamondringlover]

I do not have any heirloom jewelry...I wished I had something from my Grandmother...but my Aunt took everything I dont think I would change anything if I had any of her jewelry.

 

[purselover]

I have two heirloom engagement rings, my mom's and an old family friend who died before I was born. My mom said I could do whatever I want with the pieces sell, change them she didn't care. I decided to keep my mom's ring exactly as it was only I changed it from yellow gold to rose gold but otherwise I kept the same simple solitaire style. For the other ring so far I have kept it as is but sometimes I think of changing the setting - right now it is a rb with a white gold metal square halo around it and a very thin yellow gold band, and I think about turning the whole thing into white gold with a round diamond halo or adding side stones. Time will tell I guess I haven't changed it not because I'm overly sentimental but because one particularly setting hasn't jumped out at me as being "the one."

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Sadly, I only had one piece handed down to me. My great-grandmother bought a new e-ring later in life, and it was a 1 ct. diamond in one of those fishtail illusion settings. Thankfully my mother was the one who reset it into a simple solitaire so I wouldn't have to worry about whether to do it or not. When my mother had a stroke last year, she gave me and my sisters her jewelry since she couldn't have it at the nursing home. So I got the diamond and had BG recut it and set it in a pendant. But I am probably going to reset it again to give it a more heirloom home.

For this reason, since I did not have heirloom jewelry other than the 1 diamond, I am collecting some pieces that will someday become heirlooms.

 

[JewelFreak]

Depends on the piece & sentimental attachment, as Lottie says. I have 2 plain gold bands that belonged to my step-grandmother's mother & grandmother -- would make them like my gr-grandmother & gr-gr. I loved her dearly & she specifically wanted me to have them -- can't wear either one but they sit in their original box in my drawer for my lifetime. After that, nobody will know or care where they came from, they'll end up as melt or trashed. Neither she nor I will know, shrug.

A couple of brooches -- one w/beautiful amethysts, turquoise & seed pearls -- of my grandmother's, I do wear occasionally. So pretty, I'd never change them. Ditto a jadeite & gold bangle. Also have a couple pairs of garnet earrings from her -- too old-fashioned to wear & the garnets aren't nice enough to re-use, probably worth too little to bother selling. They just hang with my good stuff. I gave a sweet diamond ring, in the family for 4 generations, to my niece for college graduation.

When I kick the bucket I hope somebody in the family will want my jewelry -- wouldn't bother me at all if they changed them to their own tastes.

--- Laurie

 

[gwendolyn]

I'm sort of a weird mix... My engagement ring is an heirloom; it was once my great-grandmother's. I don't like the style of it, but I can't bring myself to change it either. But, it's not because I have dreams of passing it on to my kids, because we don't plan on having kids. I just feel like, if I mess with it, it'll stop being my great-grandmother's ring and just be any old diamond, and not be as special anymore (even though it still *would* be my great-grandmother's diamond and therefore special). So, even though it isn't my preferred style, I have left it untouched.

 

[TristanC]

If they are beautiful for their period, they would still be classic pieces and gorgeous today. Unfortunately if they are never going to be worn (sizing that can't be changed, completely different look from the new owner's taste) you can only store it or get rid of it.

I would store anything that I want to pass on, but some pieces are just past their age. So... better to utilise the inherent value than to leave it as an insurance liability in the deposit box.

But oh, when something has both sentimental value AND classic beauty... amazing.

 

[GK2]

I tend to prefer to wear pieces I've inherited and if they are not my style I'll alter them accordingly, but the pieces I have inherited have not been of great quality so I don't feel too bad!

I took the diamond out of my grandmothers engagement ring and put it with some others to make a DBTY bracelet, but I did make the bezel on her diamond slightly different so I can tell the difference!

I also inherited her 22ct yellow gold wedding band which had a diamond faceting pattern on it - typical late 30s when she got married. I made some significant changes to that and turned it into an 18ct white gold plain court shape band but had ten diamonds and ten sapphires set in it. The diamonds and sapphires are 0.04 ct each so together they make 40 points diamonds and 40 points sapphires. I had it made the year both my husband and I turned 40 and used both our birthstones. Plus it was our 20 year anniversary of being together so it worked well with the 20 stones in total. My mother looked at me as if I was mad when I told her what I was doing, but even she had to admit it looks good!

 

[LaraOnline]

Hi Lara! Welcome back!! Long time no see!

Hi Phoenix!
It's a difficult situation you must be in regarding your mother's jewellery as having gifted it you must feel a little compromised about asking after it.
But, as heirloom jewellery, you have a natural interest in finding out where it has gone.
Strange situation! but, I guess, very common.

 

[tyty333]

I havent inherited any yet but as the only girl I am suppose to get all my Moms. She has much smaller fingers than I do so
I'm not sure if any of it will fit if I dont have it modified or reset. I think I would probably try hard to keep it the way she
has it but I still want to be able to wear it. I luckily wont be receiving this jewelry any time soon...she has lots of good years
left in her!

 

[KaeKae]

Unfortunately for me, I inherited heirlooms early in life: mom died when I was 13, both grandmothers passed before that.

I do have some nice pieces to remember them by, including:
PGM's ering, a .35ct oec in a dome shaped filagree ring. It's fragile, but beautiful.
MGM's pendant, a .20 diamond, (oec?) in a lovely filagree setting that is a beautiful compliment to PGM's ring
MGM's ummm...freeform sappire yg ring. Lots of gold, smattering of stones, maybe .20ct
a .35ct diamond pendant, connected to MGM
various rings and earrings: pearl, yg, sterling...
Mom's ering, a 1.05ct RB



Everything is the same, except for Mom's ring and the sapphire ring. Mom's ring was set in a simple wg Tiffany style, very close to my yg ering, so I reset it into the yg bezel necklace in my avatar. I still have mom's original setting. Some day, I will find a colored stone to place in it. The sapphire ring was taken appart, the sapphires put into another necklace, but rarely worn. A couple years ago, I sold the pendant, but kept the sapphire mellee. I still don't know what to do with them, but I have them waiting for a new home.

 

[zoebartlett]

My mom reminded me the other day that I'll get all of her jewelry one day because my sister isn't into jewelry at all (she doesn't even have her ears pierced). I can't even remember how we got on to that subject, but I had two thoughts: 1) okay, this is kind of morbid. Let's change the subject. 2) Cool! I've had my eye on nana's engagement ring for a really, really long time.

Since this won't happen for quite a while (here's hoping!) I haven't given much thought to many specific pieces in my mom's jewelry box. I'm sure there are some pieces that I'll want to change, but the fashion pieces (as opposed to higher quality ones) probably wouldn't be worth it. I'm not hugely sentimental so it wouldn't bother me to melt a few of my mom's YG pieces or change something I didn't like about a piece. I guess it depends on whether I had a vision for what something could be or if I liked it enough to keep it in tact.

I won't have anyone to pass my jewelry on to someday, unless my sister develops an interest in it (unlikely) or if she has kids.

 

[pregcurious]

If it's something my mother or grandmother wore, I wouldn't touch it.

 

[Gypsy]

Not sentimental at all.

 

[maebelle]

/delurks from Colored Stones and LIW forums

The ring I wear (almost) daily are pieces from my mother and grandmother, including my grandmother's engagement ring. I've had them refurbished, and in the case of a broken opal, a new stone cut, but I don't think I'd ever change them. I hope one day to pass my grandmother's ring to my as-of-yet hypothetical daughter.

 

[Tanzigrrl]

My rule is that if it's from 1960-present, it is a candidate for a "remodeling."

I have a 100 year old ring - it's an Edwardian from 1907-1912 and I would never ever remodel it. I love it the way it is, but even if I didn't like the way it looks, I wouldn't take it apart.

Am I sentimental? In a way. But, I figure the person I inherited the pieces from would rather that I wear and enjoy the stones instead of keeping it in a box because it's not my style jewelry.

 

[Sparklelu]

I have a ring from my grandmother that has two decent siz 1.75 &1.5 ct diamonds plus a bunch of melee and baguettes. It is a by pass ring and was actually what my very first post on PS was about. What to do with grandmas ring? I like the ring not love it. I think it's a shame that 2 good diamonds sit in a box when I could so love a slamming 3 stone. All I need to do is find a 3 rd stone
The DD would Never wear it as it is not her style., but would wear a 3 stone in a heartbeat. I have 2 sons so I suppose I could break it up for them.But several vocal cousins can't believe I would dare break up Nonna's ring!! I wear her plat wedding band sometimes.
I am torn only about this piece. Other rings I have inherited from mom or grandma are pretty much my style and pins and pearls I'm all for! I just started wearing my moms 36" mega beautiful double strand a lot! I am wearing along with my 18" wedding pearls. Thanks to the influence of PS pearl forum.
I think as some posters have said if it sentimental or very vintage keep as is, if it's more modern or fugly rework it. I like the idea of keeping parts of the piece, not into selling.
My DD and I wear a Celtic cross my MIL had made for all the girls, it was made from a wax mold of her cross and the jeweler used a bunch of her outdated gold pieces to make it, including her mothers wedding band i would have kept that! She swore it is all her gold. And , if you look closely at the back, it is swirly like the gold was not blended well. It was created in NJ by a very talented old guy.