Recreating Jewelry In Your Style with Theresa Pytell

Theresa Pytell has a lot of experience doing repairs but today she’s too busy with her Etsy shop to handle them. However, there’s another side to repair that comes her way: refurbishing or recreating a piece of jewelry for which a customer feels an emotional connection. Some of her work comes from her local customers in Denver, and others come from visitors to her Etsy shop.

A Reimagined Engagement Ring

“This woman was already an Etsy customer. She mailed me the diamond and explained its story. Her husband had given her a traditional 14K white halo-style engagement ring with a 1.5-carat diamond. She had never felt comfortable wearing what she considered a flashy ring. We worked back and forth, arriving at this design.”

Theresa got to work. She made the ring in sterling and used some older yellow gold the woman supplied to make the bezel and wrap. “I love the result, and she does too. She has a design she can wear it all the time.”

Pearl Center
Reimagined Bezel-Set Engagement Ring by Theresa Pytell
Pearl Center
Gold and Diamond Refurbished Bangle by Theresa Pytell

A Gold and Diamond Bangle

Theresa met this refurbishment customer at several art fairs, and the woman had bought several of Theresa’s designs. She brought Teresa some old gold jewelry with diamonds. What could Theresa do with it?

“I melted the gold, cleaned it, remelted it, poured it into an ingot, rolled it out, hammered it round, and fused it together, so there would be no seam in it. Then I cleaned it up, flush set the diamonds, and gave it the finishing polish. It’s all hand fabricated.”

This modern bangle with flush-set diamonds is the result, and it was a big success with her customer.