Where Can I Find My Gold?
As you probably know by now, I’ve made the decision to only use recycled metals that I know have come from your own old jewellery.
But what if you don’t have any old jewellery?
Well, you do still have some options if you’d like me to make a special piece for you…
1. Ask Around…
So many people have old or broken jewellery just sitting around in drawers that they’re never going to wear again. So asking friends and family is always my first line of advice for sourcing your metal. If you’re looking for metal for your wedding rings, you could even ask for this as part of your gift list.
2. Look in Charity / Second Hand Shops…
There’s often a locked cabinet, sometimes tucked away in a corner, or a display section in the counter where you pay, and this is where you’ll find the old pieces of “real” gold and silver. To make sure it’s genuine though, just make sure you look for a hallmark.
Lots of charity shops also have online or eBay shops. These are great as they list the weight of the piece, so you can work out if you’re paying the right price. At the time of writing this, “new” gold would cost me around £45 per gram to buy. A quick search on eBay for “broken gold” has brought up a 7.5g gold bracelet, being sold by a charity shop for £140. It’s an auction so that price may increase a bit, but at the moment that’s only £18.60 per gram!
If you buy from a charity shop, whether it’s an actual brick and mortar shop or online, you’re supporting the great work that they do as well as reusing something that’s already here.
3. Use my stock…
I’ve left this one until last as I think my small amount of gold stock is likely to be wiped out in this round of commissions, but I do sometimes have a small amount of gold that’s leftover after a piece is made and I’ve been able to buy it back from the client.
I’m a one woman operation, so my cash flow doesn’t allow for me to hold a lot of stock, especially gold and platinum, but I do have a small amount. At the moment, I have a pretty good stock of silver scrap.
Finally, a little note about mixing metals as it’s something I’m asked about a lot.
The short answer here is “yes” you can mix all the precious metals together. They’re all an alloy so will likely have bits of each other in there already anyway! If you mix different colours of gold together, it’s kind of like mixing paint, so if there’s some white and yellow gold, it may come out a slightly lighter yellow than standard. If there’s some rose gold, it may have a pinky tinge to it.
The other thing to consider here is the hallmark. I have to send your new piece off to be re-hallmarked by law, and mixing your metals may result in lowering the “carat” (pure gold/silver/platinum content) within the alloy. If this happens, the hallmark you end up with may be different to the original.
As far as I’m concerned, the most important thing is that you’re re-using your old jewellery and creating a new piece from something that’s already here, to be worn and enjoyed again. Don’t worry though, I’ll always explain how hallmarking all works and what mark you may end up with before starting on your new piece of jewellery.
