S T Y L E
Creating new jewelry from old lets clients personalize
pieces while still holding on to their history.
BY RACHAEL TAYLOR
WHAT’S UP WITH
UPCYCLING?
jeweler at Fred Leighton, she now sets Georgian
and Victorian diamonds into new designs at her
own bicoastal jewelry brand. “The gems carry with
them a timelessness, the mystery of their previous
owners and stories. It’s very easy to fall in love with
them while working with them.”
If you are prepared to search, it’s possible to
find antique jewels ripe for breaking down at
“incredible value,” Nicholson says, though she
adds that such finds are becoming scarcer.
“Regarding diamonds, larger sizes can be
harder to find,” reports Brooklyn jeweler Kendra
Pariseault, who has noted an increased demand
for antique diamonds from the early
s among
brides commissioning her bespoke engagement
rings. “Also, higher color grades are harder to come
across because the antique cutters were working
with the material available to them at the time.
The rarities also increase pricing.”
Any discoveries should be treated with caution,
warns Californian-turned-New-Yorker Ashley
Zhang. “You really need to double- and triple-
check the pieces you are collecting,” says the
jeweler. “For example, during the Art Deco era, it
was common to mix in small synthetic stones with
real diamonds and precious stones. Sometimes
these synthetics are very convincing.”
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
One misconception consumers have about
upcycling jewelry is pricing, according to Jade
Lustig of New York-based brand Jade Trau.
“Restyling older pieces, unless you have
something with one sizable diamond or gem in it,
can often be more costly than buying something
from the collection,” says the designer, whose
remodeling work has inspired her to create
contemporary pieces like the best-selling Phoebe
bracelet. “While we can give our clients credit
for the gold they took the jewelry out of, it often
just covers the costs for the custom design and
models that need to be changed to accommodate
the client’s diamonds. Also, when we are taking
SEPTEMBER
DIAMONDS.NET
U
pcycling is becoming increasingly
popular in jewelry. Consumers are
bringing in pieces to transform into
more wearable options, while jewelers
are hunting down pre-loved treasures
to form the basis of contemporary creations. The
ethical benefits of upcycled jewelry, along with
the emotional ties and sense of history such pieces
offer, make it easy to see why older elements can be
a thrilling addition to a new design.
Kassandra Nicholson agrees. “With antique
jewels, the finished piece just feels different,” says
the New York-based designer. A former bench
1
