Sonja Picard’s Stunning New/Old Jewellery

Designer Sonja Picard takes your unworn old jewellery and refashions it into stunning new pieces you’ll never take off.

MONEY WELL SPENT | Who among us does not have at least a few pieces of fine-quality old jewellery squirrelled away in the back of a cupboard. Maybe we purchased these items for ourselves way back when; maybe they were given to us by someone special to mark an important occasion; or maybe they were inherited. However we acquired these treasures, and sweet as they are steeped in both history and sentiment, we know in our hearts we’re never going to wear them for reasons as simple as looking unfashionable or as complex as reminding us of a time we’d sooner forget.

Rather than ignore this old jewellery—or sell it for a fraction of its original appraised value—why not combine it all together—gemstones, precious metals, everything—to create new, meaning-filled pieces imbued with the spirit, history and energy of the old ones, contemporary pieces you really will wear.

Meaning-Filled New Jewellery From Old

In the past year, successful B.C. jewellery designer Sonja Picard has found herself fashioning more and more new pieces from old ones for longtime friends and loyal clients. Picard, who is best known for her 400-piece collection of stunning, organic hand-carved adornments inscribed with Sanskrit mantras, divine symbols and images inspired by yogic philosophy, believes jewellery should “symbolize personal cosmology and evolutionary direction,” and recycling jewellery with existing history and meaning is a great way to explore these ideas. On her free newsletter and Facebook page, Picard chronicles, both in before-and-after pictures and through lovely personal stories, the reconstruction of some seriously striking bling.

So just what might someone expect to pay for a piece of Picard’s new/old jewellery? The three-ring stack pictured above was around $900. It was made from a client’s old gemstones and gold (white, yellow and rose), which Picard melted down and recast into settings from her existing collection. Obviously, if you want or need a custom-carved setting, you will have to pay more, and the same goes for adding extra gems and more gold if desired.—C. Rule

To see the Sonja Picard Collection visit www.sonjapicard.com

Photo: courtesy Sonja Picard Collection