Custom designing with a heirloom gemstone is a meaningful approach to have an engagement ring, honoring the past and appeals to modern sensibilities. When you get a gemstone from someone in your own family, you do not have to spend a buck, so it makes for an affordable option for your custom piece.
If you are planning to design your own ring with a generations-old gemstone, there are some things you have to know before approaching a jeweler for it.
Get your Heirloom Jewel Appraised
An appraisal is done to check whether a gemstone is precious, semi-precious, or an entirely fake one. If the stone set on the piece your ancestor has bestowed on you is a diamond, at least you will want to make sure that it is indeed one. Fake diamonds exist in the form of glass, quartz, or cubic zirconia. Likewise, there are fakes for other stones as well.
It is possible to test the authenticity of a gem using a magnifying glass or an electric gadget, specifically meant for this purpose. An appraisal will not just help you decide on whether to use your gemstone, but it will also determine your stone’s value for insurance purpose. In other words, the appraised value will be used by an insurer to calculate the insurance premium that you will have to pay for a policy.
You Can Custom Design a Ring with a Loose Gemstone
One can use a gemstone that is not set on a metal band or setting as part of some other’s design. Say, if your grandparent has given you a loose diamond, which originates to the early 20th century, you certainly can customize your own engagement ring with it.
Jewelry designers often work with heirloom stones that arrive at their plant set in an old piece, but they also custom-make one from the scratch. If you have that precious jewel your granny had not set on an engagement ring, take it to a designer to have it placed on a new setting that appeals to your modern bride’s taste.
Make Sure your Future Spouse is Ready for the New Design
You can often resize a ring from a previous era and make changes to it. You would want to do it so that your heirloom piece of jewelry meets the personal style of your modern bride-to-be to an extent. You would not want to change its design in its entirety in a way that makes your grandparents roll their eyes, but give it a slightly modern twist.
