I just wanted to pick your brains on this as I have been thinking of resetting the diamonds (and gold if I can) from one of my grandmother's rings into a necklace for a while, but am in two minds as I feel a bit guilty.
My grandmother had lots of beautiful pieces of jewellery, some of which has already been given to me by my mother and the rest is still with her to pass down to me when she chooses. So let me say at this point that from a sentimental point of view there will be no shortage of gorgeous pieces to keep exactly as they are and remember my grandmother by in the future and even now as I have some other rings and bracelets already from her.
My mother gave me a diamond cluster ring on my 30th birthday three years ago which is stunning and I wore it on my right hand on my wedding day as my 'something old'. However, it is a little too big for me band-wise and I find that I hardly ever wear it as I feel that as a ring it is a little ostentatious for everyday wear. I am useless at guessing carat weights but I think the centre stone is around a carat or just under and it is surrounded by 12 little stones which look like between .05 and .10 each. I don't know the stats as it is inherited but imagine they are pretty good given the sparkle, cut and colour of the diamonds - at least VVS clarity and E colour. I've been thinking of having the diamonds reset into a necklace, to look like something similar to this pendant from Hearts on Fire but obviously on a bigger scale as the total carat weight will be something between 1.50 and 2 carat:
http://www.heartsonfire.com/shop-jewelry/necklaces/fulfillmentpendantnecklace.aspx
I know I would wear this on special occasions and still love and cherish it because the stones will have come from my grandmother's ring. If possible I would also like to use the gold from the old ring to make the chain and the setting too, although it may not be enough and from reading another thread on here I'm not sure how jewellers feel about mixing gold if I had to use some melted down gold from some other pieces I don't use (have some 18k hoops I never wear).
So, what do you guys think? What would you do - keep it as it is or reset it? Or even reset it but have it made into another ring? I haven't mentioned my thoughts to my mother as I am pretty sure she will be upset at the idea of me changing it, having been her mother's ring. I don't want to upset her but she is not into jewellery in the same way as I am (despite having an amazing collection she doesn't touch most of it) and I think it seems silly for the ring to sit in my jewellery box unworn most of the time.
My grandmother had lots of beautiful pieces of jewellery, some of which has already been given to me by my mother and the rest is still with her to pass down to me when she chooses. So let me say at this point that from a sentimental point of view there will be no shortage of gorgeous pieces to keep exactly as they are and remember my grandmother by in the future and even now as I have some other rings and bracelets already from her.
My mother gave me a diamond cluster ring on my 30th birthday three years ago which is stunning and I wore it on my right hand on my wedding day as my 'something old'. However, it is a little too big for me band-wise and I find that I hardly ever wear it as I feel that as a ring it is a little ostentatious for everyday wear. I am useless at guessing carat weights but I think the centre stone is around a carat or just under and it is surrounded by 12 little stones which look like between .05 and .10 each. I don't know the stats as it is inherited but imagine they are pretty good given the sparkle, cut and colour of the diamonds - at least VVS clarity and E colour. I've been thinking of having the diamonds reset into a necklace, to look like something similar to this pendant from Hearts on Fire but obviously on a bigger scale as the total carat weight will be something between 1.50 and 2 carat:
http://www.heartsonfire.com/shop-jewelry/necklaces/fulfillmentpendantnecklace.aspx
I know I would wear this on special occasions and still love and cherish it because the stones will have come from my grandmother's ring. If possible I would also like to use the gold from the old ring to make the chain and the setting too, although it may not be enough and from reading another thread on here I'm not sure how jewellers feel about mixing gold if I had to use some melted down gold from some other pieces I don't use (have some 18k hoops I never wear).
So, what do you guys think? What would you do - keep it as it is or reset it? Or even reset it but have it made into another ring? I haven't mentioned my thoughts to my mother as I am pretty sure she will be upset at the idea of me changing it, having been her mother's ring. I don't want to upset her but she is not into jewellery in the same way as I am (despite having an amazing collection she doesn't touch most of it) and I think it seems silly for the ring to sit in my jewellery box unworn most of the time.