Custom jewellery manufacturing in Kelowna since 2005

This is the part of the business that came first. Northwest Diamonds Inc. has been manufacturing and supplying jewellery since 2005, and the buying side grew out of it, because a manufacturer needs a steady supply of gold and buying it directly from the public is the shortest route to getting it. That is not a marketing story. It is the mechanical reason we can pay more than a reseller for your gold, and it is the reason this page exists alongside the buying pages.

It also means there is a third option that most people never consider. You can sell your old gold, you can keep it in a drawer, or you can have it made into something you will wear.

Remaking old gold into new jewellery

Almost every household in the Okanagan has a drawer with the same contents: a broken chain, a wedding band from a marriage that ended, a great-aunt's brooch nobody would wear now, mismatched earrings, a class ring. It is real gold and real money, and it is doing nothing.

Because we manufacture in-house, that metal can go directly into a new piece rather than being sold, refined by someone else, and bought back at retail with three margins added on the way. The gold in your drawer is the gold in your new ring. Practically, that means the cost of a custom piece is offset by the value of the metal you already own, and in some cases the metal covers a large part of it.

Redesigning inherited jewellery

Inherited pieces are the most common reason people walk through this door for manufacturing rather than selling. The difficulty is nearly always the same: the stones are lovely and the setting belongs to another era. A 1960s cluster ring, a Victorian brooch, a heavy gold bracelet that will never be worn again.

The stones can be removed and reset into something contemporary, using the original gold where it is suitable. The result keeps what mattered about the piece, which is the stone and the person it came from, and loses what did not, which is a setting style nobody chose. We will also tell you honestly when a piece should be left alone, because some antique jewellery is worth more intact than it will ever be as a redesign, and we would rather say so than take the work.

What we make

• Engagement rings and wedding bands, including matched sets
• Remounts and resets for existing diamonds and coloured stones
• Pendants, earrings and bracelets made from remelted family gold
• Replacements and reproductions of lost or damaged pieces
• Rings resized, rebuilt or reshanked where the original is worth keeping

How a custom piece comes together

The conversation

It starts with what you have and what you want. Bring the old pieces, any stones, and any photographs or sketches of styles you like, including ones you do not like, which are often more useful. We will tell you what is realistic with the metal and stones you have, and what would need to be added.

The design

We agree a design and a price before any work begins. Nothing is melted, cut or set until you have signed off on what it is going to be. Where stones need to be sourced, we source them directly, which is the same advantage described on our diamond page.

The making

Your gold is assessed for karat and weight first, exactly as it would be if you were selling gold to us, so you know precisely what your existing metal is contributing to the job. It is then refined or alloyed to the karat required for the new piece, because you cannot simply melt a mixed handful and cast a reliable ring out of it. Stones are checked for damage before setting, since older stones sometimes carry chips that only appear under magnification and are far better found before they go into a setting.

The handover

You see the finished piece before anything final is charged. Timelines depend on the complexity of the design and on whether stones need sourcing, and we will give you a realistic date rather than an optimistic one.

A note on appraisals for new pieces

If you want an independent written valuation of the finished piece for insurance, we will point you to Stellar Gem Services, the only truly independent jewellery appraiser and certified gem lab in the Okanagan. We do not appraise our own work, for the same reason we do not appraise the items we buy. An independent document is worth more to you than one written by the party with an interest in the number.

Come and talk it through

There is no charge to discuss a project, and there is no obligation at the end of the conversation. Many people arrive intending to sell, find out what the pieces are worth through a free estimate, and then decide to put the metal into something new instead. Either outcome is fine with us.

We are at Unit 301, 478 Bernard Avenue, ScotiaBank Building, third floor, Downtown Kelowna, BC V1Y 6N7, open Monday to Sunday, 9 AM to 5 PM. Custom work is best discussed by appointment so we can give it the time it needs. Call +1 (250) 860-0096, or +1 866-872-0096 toll free.