Recycled gold rings
Filed under: Rings, Green Weddings
It stands to reason that mining is pretty hard on the environment, but, as your mother always says, money -- in this case, gold -- doesn't grow on trees. The only way to get it is to mine it, right?Perhaps not. I used recycled gold for my second wedding ring. I gave my first band to the goldsmith who crafted my wedding band, and that amount of gold was credited toward (but not included in!) my new band. This is a fine idea for second weddings, and can even save you a little money, but it's not so useful for those of you getting married for the first time.
According to Green Karat, "there is enough gold above ground (already mined) to satisfy all demands of the jewelry industry for the next 50 years, [m]much of it ... in the form of old and unused jewelry." As more consumers demand recycled gold, manufacturers will be motivated to provide it. It's a small and simple thing, but it's positive change.
What's in a name?
Dress of the day: Anastasia by Maggie Sottero
Unusual wedding cakes from Dragons and Daffodils
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jan 17th 2008 @ 12:48PM
Julie said...
I actually just inquired about this very thing yesterday and, boy, am I glad I did. The jeweler told me that gold has gone from around $300 an oz to over $900 an oz in the last year alone! (and it's expected to keep rising!
Reply
Jan 17th 2008 @ 2:00PM
alicia2801 said...
How do you sell your jewelry to get what the gold is worth? You go to a pawn shop and they insult you?
Reply
Jan 17th 2008 @ 2:04PM
Ilona Peltz said...
You take your rings to a goldsmith, who melts them down, extracts the pure gold from the alloy, and gives you the value as taken from that day's gold prices. Very professional, no insults necessary.
Jan 17th 2008 @ 2:13PM
alicia2801 said...
Thank you! I will try that.
Reply
Jan 17th 2008 @ 2:19PM
Ilona Peltz said...
You're welcome. When I was married for the second time, this is what we did. Now, I'll warn you: your ring may have COST you $300 (say), but you won't get $300 for it. You probably know that gold is such a soft metal, it's always mixed with stronger metals. That means that when it's melted down, there will be a small fraction of an ounce of actual gold in it.
But however much is in there, you'll get fair market value for the amount, and, as Julie's jeweler tell us, it's now around $900 ounce (it was under $300 when we bought our rings!)! So, you might even get a decent amount of money, after all.