Turning an Antique Watch into Two New Rings

Formal dress watches, while once a staple in the jewelry wardrobe, are now much less common.

A woman recently came into our store with a platinum mechanical dress watch, which belonged to her mother. It had been passed down to her, but neither she nor her daughter felt as though they’d wear it often.

Instead of having such a beautiful piece sit in the jewelry box, our design team went to work.

We ended up removing one of the large diamonds from the timepiece, setting it into a new mounting for the client’s daughter to wear as an engagement ring.

For the client herself, we created a dress ring from the remaining pieces of the watch case.

A new bezel was made for the remaining large diamond with the bracelet ends meeting around it.

Links from the bracelet were soldered to a thin band of platinum inside to keep it stationary while preserving the look of the original piece.

From this very sentimental piece, which would otherwise be sitting in a drawer, the client was able to create two unique pieces of jewelry full of family history.

In the future, our design team suggests that the remaining (mostly intact) watch case be repurposed into a pendant setting, while the other half of the bracelet may be used in either a necklace or a bracelet.