Unlocking Elegance: Skibell Fine Jewelry’s Art of Repurposing Estate Treasures

If you’ve ever tried to Konmari or Marie Kondo your life, you know this dilemma well. There’s a dress, or a book, or even more guilt-inducing — your grandmother’s ring that once looked so elegant on her dainty fingers, but it’s not right for you so it sits in a velvet box. 

We’re all guilty of holding onto clothes, keepsakes, and heirlooms that don’t really have a place in our lives. You can’t bring yourself to let them go because they hold sentimental value, and so those forgotten treasures stay buried in your belongings.

Lyn Skibell, owner of Skibell Fine Jewelry understands this dilemma well. Since 1984, Skibell has specialized in buying, selling, and redesigning estate jewelry in her Preston Center store that’s become a luxury destination for finding curated and one-of-a-kind pieces.

“I always say jewelry shouldn’t live in your jewelry box,” Skibell says. “It should be worn and make you feel good.” So, what do you do with your grandmother’s jewels? 

Redesigning or repurposing estate jewelry is a way to breathe new life into old jewelry, offering a unique opportunity to transform heirlooms or forgotten pieces into something you’ll actually wear and love. 

Embracing Sustainability Through Fashion Repurposing

The popularity of repurposing high-quality clothes and jewelry has been chronicled in the Wall Street Journal and Harper’s Bazaar UK as THE eco-friendly, sustainable way to handle old estate treasures. As consumers seek alternatives to fast fashion, resale marketplaces like Poshmark and The Real Real have taken off, attracting more than 30 million users in the United States alone. Younger generations appreciate the quality of estate pieces that are finding new uses or new owners in a circular economy. 

“The expertise and craftsmanship that goes into estate jewelry is an art,” Skibell says. “That’s what jewelry is, wearable art.”

Redesigning heirloom jewelry aligns well with this trend of making conscious consumer choices, but more importantly for Skibell’s customers, repurposing old jewelry honors the past while creating something new for future generations.

Skibell Fine Jewelry: A Storied Legacy Among Top Dallas Jewelry Stores

Many of Skibell Fine Jewelry’s customers and dedicated long-time staff have been with them since the beginning, when her husband Charles, a fourth-generation jeweler, founded the business 40 years ago. When Charles passed away in 2019, Lyn took on the business — tasked with honoring the store and staff’s legacy while, too, supporting Skibell Fine Jewelry’s future to come. 

There are parallels there, for sure.

Skibell says some customers are nervous about redesigning vintage pieces. “Some people think by redesigning their mother or grandmother’s old jewelry, they’re not honoring her. We know it’s a personal choice and it’s sentimental to them.

“But I believe the best way to honor someone is to wear something they loved,” Skibell says. “Your mother would rather that you transform her old jewelry into something you’ll actually wear, rather than letting it sit unused in a jewelry box.”

And that’s true. How many times have you heard your mother say something similar? 

Breathing New Life into Treasured Heirlooms

For Skibell Fine Jewelry, specializing in estate jewelry means more than buying, selling, or redesigning — it’s about being a part of intimate moments in their clients’ lives. The jewelry tells stories, and the redesign process involves not just transactions but the transfer of memories and emotions.

Customers commonly come to Skibell to upgrade an original diamond engagement ring. After all, styles change over the decades. They’ll purchase a new stone and then repurpose their original stone into a diamond pendant. Some even incorporate the next generation by designing a new diamond ring for their daughter.

One of the most popular redesigned estate pieces involves turning a mother’s ring into wedding jewelry, honoring the bride’s previous generations. “Your mom could leave you something that’s not your style, but you can change it to something more modern and your style,” Skibell says. 

Skibell’s team has created numerous redesigned estate pieces over the years, including many by a beloved designer that Skibell Fine Jewelry lost last year, Clyde Knight, known affectionately as “Fuzzy.” 

One particularly touching idea for a redesign represents the union of two families at one wedding. The bride can take her estate piece and the groom take his, and they combine the two into one piece of wedding jewelry. Those estate pieces could be jewelry from the bride’s late father or the groom’s late mother, representing these loved ones that couldn’t be at the wedding with them. “It’s a very intimate thing and emotional in a good way,” Skibell says.

Now, the bride has a wedding ring that not only brings together their two families, but gives her a sentimental token of the father that couldn’t walk her down the aisle and the mother her new husband misses dearly. I’m going to make myself cry here.

Skibell knows how emotional jewelry can be.

“When I look at my jewelry, I see my life with Charles,” she says. “Every piece has a memory. Like the first thing he ever bought me, a pendant in Instanbul. Or something from a show we were at, and he found a special piece for me. My jewelry box is our lives together.”

An Expert Guide to Decoding Estate Jewelry

Skibell admits the term estate or heirloom jewelry is a bit broad. “Estate jewelry doesn’t have to be a certain age or value,” Skibell says. 

That’s reassuring to hear when you’re trying to settle an estate and just need a friendly expert’s eye to tell you what jewelry is valuable or not. 

“People can send us photos of specific pieces, or make an appointment with bags of fine jewelry and/or better costume jewelry to look at for repair or appraisal,” Skibell says.

“That’s the fun part of jewelry. There could be a diamond in the rough.”

Elevate Elegance: Tips for Redesigning Your Estate Jewelry

Design: Keep a file of jewelry designs you like and realize that repurposing is a thoughtful and evolving process. Know what you like and what you possibly envision.

Emotional Preparedness: Make sure you’re emotionally ready for the process. “People get ready to sell, and then suddenly they’re not,” Lyn Skibell says. “They get teary-eyed at the table and emotional at the thought of redesigning their loved one’s estate piece.”

Remember, there’s no point in owning jewelry that sits in a box. You’re honoring its history and respecting the original, while creating something new that you’ll wear and pass down to your children.

Determining Worth: Determining the value involves a comprehensive evaluation. Skibell Fine Jewelry is primarily looking for precious metals like gold or platinum, or gem stones. They weigh, measure, test stones, and consider factors like gold purity. The jewelers are often looking for hallmarked jewelry that bears a brand or maker’s mark, or stamped jewelry that details the metal purity, origin, or composition. 

The process ensures a fair assessment, even for pieces that may not appear valuable at first glance. “Sometimes the brand, or the stone, you can’t even see, so we inspect,” Lyn Skibell says. 

What’s Not: Skibell says they don’t typically work with silver as a precious metal. 

And are old estate pearls valuable? Unfortunately not. “There’s a lot of pearls in the market, so we’re not buying them right now. But, old pearls are wonderful to repurpose for redesigned pieces.”

But some good news, pearls are coming back in vogue thanks for Barbie, Skibell says.

Condition May Not Matter: Even broken or damaged jewelry can find new life. 

Budget Consideration: Think about your budget for the repurposing process. Skibell Fine Jewelry offers detailed CAD drawings and waxes to help clients visualize the transformed pieces.

Skibell Fine Jewelry believes that heirloom jewelry shouldn’t live forgotten in a box but should instead become a part of your life, reflecting your style and memories. Breathing life into these pieces is not just a service; it’s a celebration of beautiful moments in their clients’ lives.