It is naturally impossible to indicate all the designs in which jewelry can be remodelled. In considering the separate types of jewel, from earclips to brooches, I have indicated what is becoming to various personalities. Beyond this, there must be the judgment of good taste, based on the need and the jewels with which the newly fashioned one will be worn, whether of a classical, modern or neutral (such as a flower) motif. Beyond all these, it must be recognized that remodelling jewelry calls first for the imagination of the artist and then for the skill of the craftsman. The wearer or the purchaser—or both—may have ideas, but they should be put to the test through the eyes of an experienced jeweler.
The Jeweler as Artist
It is an easy matter to select a jeweler when one is purchasing something new. A woman may just window-shop along the avenue, then drift into a reliable store. She finds a jewel she likes and her husband does not object to the price.
With a remodelling project, there are many more concerns. From the purely practical point of view, the woman must be sure the jeweler is thoroughly reliable. He has to remove the gems from their setting. He must clean, count, weigh, and register them, and see that she gets the same stones back. The jeweler must be not a salesman but an experienced craftsman, able to recognize the possibilities inherent in the stone. He should be able to visualize various new settings and to decide in which of these the stone will be most favorably dressed. He should have a flair for fashion, so that the new setting, while up to the minute, does not quickly grow behind the times.
The designer should be one to whom each jewel is a new challenge. The problem must engage his enthusiasm, must make him eager to create, out of the piece of jewelry he is shown, something more beautiful and more becoming. He must look upon his task with a sense of responsibility akin to that of the old master of the guild, who gloried not in his wealth but in the competence of his craftsmen. In short, whatever the financial transactions involved, the person who is to be entrusted with the remodelling of a jewel should regard it not as a merchant but as an artist.
Varied Stones
It may be a good idea to complement the existing stones in a jewel with some extra stones of different cut. Diamonds of special or fancy cut add a modern note at once, for in previous years the use of such stones was virtually unknown. In all likelihood, the jewel will be enhanced by the addition of some baguette diamonds. This cut makes a most versatile gem. It has been incorporated into virtually every modern jewel that makes use of precious stones, for it gives the designer scope for otherwise unattainable modulations. By using stones of such fancy or varied cut, the jeweler achieves in his creation contrasts in the reflection of the light that give new play to the sparkle and new depth and beauty to the jewel.
Varied Treatment
It is by no means necessary for the woman who takes a jewel to be remodelled to think of the new piece in terms of the same sort of jewel. “Once a gentleman always a gentleman,” said Dickens, and a good thing if it were so. But it does not follow that “Once an earclip always an earclip” is an equally desirable or inevitable pattern, or that a bracelet should be condemned to endure forever as a band around the arm.