Which jeweler will melt and reuse metals?

[acezarra]

Hi! I have some settings that I no longer wear anymore and am wondering which jewelers will reuse the metal? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[arkieb1]

I've been told David Klass does, but email and ask him.

 

[tyty333]

I've been told that very few places reuse gold. Might be possible if its pure 24kt gold. The reason being is that less than 24kt golds are mixed with other metals. It takes different melting points to separate the different metals which leads to more cost (so there are no cost savings).

Are you doing this for sentimental value or for cost savings? Many places will give you a credit for the value of your gold but will not actually use it
in the making of the new item.

My knowledge is minimal so wait for more opinions.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

I agree with tyty. I think if a jeweler says they will do it, they are usually sending in the gold as scrap and are actually not using your gold in the making of the new jewelry piece.

 

[EC8]

Basically the jeweler cannot reuse your gold as is because mixing the alloys can lead to porosity and instability if the alloys are incompatible.

 

[Victor Canera]

Hi AnaClare,

I usually don’t recommend re-using metal from an existing ring. The reason is that in most instance contaminants such as solder have been used to manufacture a ring and those contaminants will be mixed into a new ring. They could cause issues such as porosity and/or imperfections in the metal of the new ring.

To clean gold or platinum from imperfections, it usually has to go through the refining process. Metal is refined in very large batches though so most likely, it wouldn’t be possible to refine the metal of a single ring and get that portion of metal back to reuse in a new ring.

As I was typing this @EC8 beat me to it

Good luck!

 

[distracts]

There are some small-batch refiners out there and some jewelers refine gold as well but it is more expensive and you’re limited as to what can be made - when you cast something a lot more metal is used than what ends up in the item, and same with hand-forging. If the items are sentimental, I would see what can be done to rework them. If you just want new stuff, I’d send it in for scrap. Get quotes from your jeweler as well as the local refinery. I send mine directly.