What is Metamorphosis? It's a jewellery project where I turn your old silver or gold jewellery into something new at no charge (unless you want a material that you don't currently have)! You give me ideas of what you like, and then I surprise you with one of them of my choice! Swipe to see the last few metamorphosis' I've created.
I'm taking 2 volunteers for the fall. You must live in the lower mainland and be able to travel to my New Westminster studio. Application deadline is this coming Monday the 19th!
Interested? Please get in touch!
Metamorphosis 35: White gold, moonstone, and mother of pearl ring
Kat came all the way from Seattle to be part of this project! She left me her old grad ring that she never wore and trusted me to turn it into something new!
Kat was super organized in regards to sending me information of what she liked and didn’t like. I always love when people have visual references of their preferences because sometimes things get lost in translation or my idea of something is different than theirs!'
To make Kat’s ring, I melted down her white gold ring (see photo of it below) and made a plain band. I picked moonstone and mother of pearl for her ring because they are alternate birthstones to hers (pearl/alexandrite). Her grad ring had an alexandrite but I didn’t want to repurpose it. I made the settings for the stone and then soldered them to the band. After the ring was cleaned up and polished, I set the stones with the middle piece still between the settings. Cutting it out before I set the stones would make the stones harder to set since the band would be weaker once cut. After the middle piece was cut out, I gave the ring one more polish and voila!
Metamorphosis 34: Yellow gold and diamond cluster ring
This Metamorphosis found it’s way to Greece for my sister-in-law Vicki! She left me all of her old jewellery (see photo below) that last time she came to Vancouver and told me to surprise her with a ring. She sent me several photos of styles she liked and I picked a style I hadn’t quite made yet!
To make this ring, I started by taking out all of the stones from her old jewellery and melting down the gold. I traded most of her white gold for yellow gold, which I then turned into a 4mm band. Once the band was shaped, I use the leftover gold strip to melt “blobs” all over the top of the ring. Then I created seats on the blobs and soldered the settings to those seats. After that, stones were set, ring was polished, and voila! From Vancouver to Greece with love!
METAMORPHOSIS NEWS
The draw to metamorphosis has always been that someone can get a custom piece of jewellery for a reduced price. Over the years I’ve had to raise the price to cover the cost of tools and specialists I work with (casting/stone setting). The reality is, that the more I have to raise the price, the more people lose interest. Metamorphosis is a creative outlet for me and I’d like to keep doing it which means I have to rethink the project in general and how I can make it better for everyone.
That being said, instead of offering 6 spots for the year, I have decided to change my metamorphosis offerings: I will have three types of metamorphosis available to you!
First, there will be two FREE metamorphosis. Details below.
Second, I will still offer metamorphosis for people who want to turn their old jewellery into something new. Details below.
Third, one of the first things people say when interested in metamorphosis is “I don’t have enough materials”. This got me to thinking, how can I include people who don’t hoard old jewellery? I decided I would offer a version of metamorphosis where I supply the materials! Details below.
Metamorphosis offerings:
Metamorphosis - FREE and your materials (must be a referral - application process) - Click here for more info.
Metamorphosis 100 - $100 fee and your materials (must be a referral) - Click here for more info.
Metamorphosis: Sterling Silver - $150 fee and my materials (anyone can sign up) - Click here for more info.
Here are the basic details for all:
There is an initial interview where we discuss your likes and dislikes.
It takes 6 to 8 weeks to make jewellery
Your jewellery will be posted on social media
Questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!