Local jewellers show us the heirlooms they’ve redesigned for clients
Image via @lauramiersjewellery / instagram
words by Lara Daly
Bringing new life to old treasures.
Jewellery is often the most sentimental part of our wardrobes. Whether it’s a treasured bracelet picked up on your travels, a precious family heirloom or a ring marking a special milestone, what we choose to adorn ourselves with everyday is deeply personal. It’s these accessories that give any outfit your signature style, after all.
But if you’re lucky enough to be passed an heirloom piece of jewellery, sometimes you might not want to wear it at all. You could be scared of losing it (I once lost my grandma’s ring for a year then found it in the pocket of a ski jacket) or perhaps you love it but it’s just not quite your style.
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If your in the latter category, all you need is the guidance of a great jeweller. They have the knowledge and imagination to take a sentimental piece and respectfully redesign it to something that suits you perfectly, that you’ll love for years. To help inspire you, we reached out to some of our favourite local jewellers and asked them to share before-and-after photos from a recent project.
Laura Miers
“An engagement ring should always be a sacred object that tells your story. This heirloom piece was brought to us in August 2024 by a Melbourne-based customer. Working together entirely over Zoom and email, our Head of Custom, Annie, worked on a series of iterations before landing on the final design: an 18ct yellow gold princess cut signet with fresh lab diamonds and Grandma’s sapphire. Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.”
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Agovia
“In March, a client visited the studio to create two engagement rings using family heirlooms that had been passed down through three generations. One ring was platinum with three brilliant-cut diamonds. The other was an 18ct yellow gold ring set with five claw-set gems: three emeralds and two diamonds, each with its own unique cut.”
Before:
“We began by deciding which stones would feature in her and her partner’s rings. The femme-style ring used the central diamond with two accent emeralds. Her partner’s ring featured the remaining square-cut emerald as a solitaire. They also opted for a Perpetual Wedding Band, designed to sit seamlessly alongside the engagement ring. To honour the original pieces further, they chose to refine the 18ct ring and put its value towards the new designs. The platinum ring was set aside to be repurposed on another project in the future.
Bespoke work sits at the heart of what we do, allowing each piece to carry the story of its wearer, a sense of opulence in the everyday.” – Jasper Agostini Hudson, Agovia founder.
After:
Krool Jewels
“When Katie first visited my studio, she was looking for a jeweller who’d be willing to take on a sentimental and somewhat nerve-racking task: using her 3-carat heirloom emerald in a modern piece she could wear with pride. The emerald had been originally purchased for Katie by her mother, from a long trusted family jeweller from the UK in the 1970s. Her mother then posted the emerald to her, adamant that she use it when she got married.”
Before:
“After years of keeping the stone safe through seven house moves, Katie decided to commission something just for herself – an act of self-celebration. She came in with trust, warmth and genuine excitement, giving me creative freedom to reimagine the peice. It was a privilege, albeit a nerve-wracking one, to set such a large, brittle and emotionally significant stone. The result was a sleek, contemporary ring that honours the story behind the gem while giving it a new life.” – Angus Smith, Krool founder.
After:
Cushla Whiting
“This was a particularly special commission that started with a beautiful act of quiet planning. A client from the US had inherited two rings from his grandmother: one set with antique diamonds, the other with a modern cut stone. The rings were stored at his mother’s house back in the States, so he carefully orchestrated an overseas trip under the guise of a holiday, just to retrieve them without his partner suspecting a thing.”
Before:
“Once he had the rings, he booked a private appointment with one of our jewellery designers, Nicholas Silkstone. Together, they designed a bespoke Bombe using two antique diamonds from one of his grandmother’s rings and a modern diamond from the other.
Later, he brought his partner in for her own appointment with Nicholas, who had to pretend they were meeting for the first time. As fate would have it, she was immediately drawn to the exact design her partner had already created. She admired the contrast between the antique and modern diamonds, and loved the design’s bold elegance – unknowingly confirming everything her partner had hoped for.”
After:
Black Finch Jewellery
“We’ve definitely seen a rise in clients bringing in heirloom gold and gemstones to repurpose into a custom Black Finch piece. Whether it’s redesigning their own engagement rings or incorporating a sentimental touch, like their grandmother’s stones, there’s something deeply meaningful about giving new life to old treasures.”
The example below is from a customer, Franny Cook, who earlier this year had Black Finch redesign a favourite diamond from a wide-band ring into a paired-back, modern setting with a solitaire feel.
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For more on bespoke jewellery, try this.
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