Helping jewels to go on sparkling

Over the past 15 years, Lippitts Family Jewellers has built a reputation not only for selling quality pieces, but also for the many services offered to help customers care for, restore and safeguard their most precious jewellery.

Whether it be access to an independent certified valuer, ensuring pieces are accurately insured, or getting a jewellery cleaned, Lippitts are just as dedicated to the care of your most valuable items.

“I would probably, as a tip, say to go through your old jewellery and gold and make sure it’s all insured properly at the moment, with the price of gold that’s just hiked up,” Tiara Lippitt said.

“Because a lot of people would be underinsured, so my tip would be to bring it in and get a valuation done so that it’s secure on your insurance.”

One of the more unique services which Lippitts offer is the ability to remodel older pieces of jewellery, fashioning them into a new creation that allows the wearer to fit their own style, while also hanging on to something that is close to their heart.

From broken pieces of jewellery, or a clean-out of an old jewellery box or inherited collection, the re-modelling service is a way to put those items to use in a way that you will actually wear.

“Someone might bring in something that their grandmother left them or something that they’ve had in their drawer that they don’t wear, because they don’t like the style of it, and it’s not really them, but then we will be able to come up with a design using the stones and their own materials …and recreate something using their old pieces,” Tiara said.

Tiara explained that a customer can bring in all their pieces they would like to remodel into the store, and the team can help come up with a plan of action from there.

“We will look at what they’ve got, we’ll weigh up all their gold and just talk to them about designs, and look at what they’re already wearing and figure out what their style is,” Tiara said.

From there, the customer can decide what the final product will be, whether it be earrings, a necklace and chain, or a pendant.

“Then we’d go down that path of getting the design done…we’ll quote up the labour costs and anything else required to create the finished piece,” Tiara said.

Once the final quote is finished and a deposit is paid, the process then begins behind the scenes of crafting the individualised item, which can take anywhere from four to 12 weeks, Tiara shared, adding that it’s dependant on the time of year, and the intricacy of the piece.

“The jeweller will unset all the stones, will melt all the gold and will get the process done with the design team that we use, then they will get the customer to approve the final design, and then we go from there,” Tiara said.

Tiara added that the Lippitts Family Jewellers team will have a new re-modelling project to put together on a daily to weekly basis.

“We had someone the other day pick up their ring,” Tiara said.

“She had a diamond from her grandmother and a diamond from her mum, and then her gold, all put in together.

“We were able to design something with the two stones that was a bit art deco looking…she picked that up the other day and she was really really happy with it.”

Tiara said, among the many other services she and her family offer, this particular aspect of the business is very gratifying.

“It is very rewarding, it is heart-warming, and it’s very special,” she added.