Vintage stones are slowly becoming very much a part of contemporary jewelry. Modernist jewelers who are racing down unexplored avenues dodging criticism of the skeptics were the firsts to conceive this idea. When the mix of modern and heritage worked out great, they decided to take it to the next level. They started to welcome customers who have some old family gemstones to come with their own designs. The jewelers in return, organized putting the two together to create eclectic jewelry pieces that appeal to the tastes of all. If you are still holding on to your great grandma’s treasury of gemstones, take a look through these rules of designing jewelry with old stones.
Learn the Difference between Old and New: You might want to start with figuring out if the diamonds you were passed down by the seniors in your family are vintage or not. If it’s a vintage stone, it will have flashing and focused sparkle. If your stone gives a demure sparkle, then it is not exactly a vintage piece and probably it is only a generation old.
Vintage Detailing in Designs: Even when the attempt is to make a confluence of old and new, your effort should be directed to finding or creating a design that has subtle hints of antiquity about it. Else, placement of the vintage stones might look a little irrelevant. So, look for little things like filigree, hand engravings, tendrils around the stones and such things.
Milgrain Edging for Maximum Effect: When choosing a design, try to pick milgrain edging in engraving details. It increases the details in the design and plays up the sparkle of the piece. Milgrain is a great way of detailing the edge of an ornament with something sparky.
Gold as the Preferred Material: When I say gold, I don’t mean white gold. I mean pure yellow or primrose gold. In all probabilities, a vintage diamond is likely to have a little color from age. They look best in yellow or prim gold setting. For yellowish stones, yellow gold makes the best base material. As for grey and stones, you want to put them in pink gold ornaments.
Hide the Imperfect Stones:If some of your vintage stones have major inclusions do not abandon them altogether. You can still use them, but only in clusters and on a side. Keep the best diamonds up at the front and center so that the eyes can be tricked into forgiving the flaws of others.
Settle Only for Matching Diamonds: If your jeweler doesn’t offer you matching pairs of diamonds, then you carry on with your search. Some jewelers fool their customers into buying modern-cut diamonds for the price of vintage ones, thinking them to heritage stones. You do not want to be in the same place as them.
Try to use stones that catch dirt easily in ear studs or pendants. The reason why they do not fit well for rings is because stones in rings already get cloudy over weeks.
