How John Esposito of Malleable Jewellers gives new shine to old jewels

How John Esposito of Malleable Jewellers gives new shine to old jewels

The vintage cocktail ring sat in Marlee Novak’s jewelry box for years, its 60 diamonds going unworn. She wondered: could they find new life? So, she took it to the remake master, jeweller John Esposito of Malleable Jewellers.

He brought the ring to his refinery, freeing the stones to grace a more contemporary piece — or five. Some of those original jewels now sit in a new ring for Novak, some in a daughter’s wedding band, and others in two pendants. Esposito also made an ingot out of the original gold for Novak’s son. What was once a single decadent ring is now several shiny new pieces to be cherished — and actually worn — by many.

Nestled in the basement of a midtown gelato shop, Malleable Jewellers is all about sustainability: Esposito is one of the only Fairtrade licensee goldsmiths in the country. Repurposing old jewelry has become one of the company’s signatures, whether it’s revamping a grandmother’s engagement ring into a necklace, or making modern hinged-hoop earrings from several collected antique pieces.

“The most beautiful thing about repurposing gold for me is that this isn’t where the buck stops,” Esposito says. “I made those rings and two pendants (for Novak), and if, in 30 years’ time, they get handed down to their kids they can then do the exact same thing.”

Esposito describes these pieces as “hidden messages.”

Even if no one knows the meaning behind your new jewelry, “you’ll know, for example, that it was your grandparents’ wedding bands, which have been amalgamated together,” he says.

For Esposito, the idea of recycling old jewelry was born from a desire to work with what already exists — and the company has stayed true to that sustainability mission when it comes to their original creations, too.

In June, Malleable announced it’s now the only Fairmined-certified supplier in Canada, meaning it can offer ethical jewelry casting and metals to others in the trade, helping their fellow jewellers go more green. Working with Fairmined gold gives back to the mining community: ecologically extracted gold offers miners a $6,000 (U.S.) premium on top of the purchase price.

That money goes toward things like health care, clean-water systems and education. It also keeps workers safe.

“We want to make sure that people work in safe and equitable working conditions in the jewelry industry and in mining communities around the world,” says Esposito. “And that the community also gets to develop.”

Creating beautiful new baubles and reworking old ones allows Esposito to give back to his community, too, offering a bit of sparkle to fellow citizens to brighten up the daily drudgery.

Maybe it’s a new pair of long hammer-finished earrings, or an unreplicable kimberlite ring (Esposito’s favourite piece to make). Or perhaps it’s melting down generations’ worth of heirloom jewelry to create a new gold band, topped by some inherited garnets. Once in a while, he offers up a free engagement ring to a couple who can’t afford it.

Jewelry can bring joy, as evidenced by the elated customer e-mails Esposito gets regularly from clients thanking him for bringing their vision to life.

When those gems arrive? “I get the biggest grin on my face.”

The Best Tarnish-Free ‘Gold’ Jewellery For Under £30

Olivia Jenkins, a 24-year-old from Cardiff, started her jewellery company D. Louise in lockdown. “I used to get so frustrated with my jewellery turning my skin green, especially when I would spend so much money on it,” she tells R29. After a lot of research, she found out about a new coating process that appeared to be the answer to her (and our) prayers. “I found that stainless steel jewellery ticked the boxes. Every piece from my collection uses 361L stainless steel, which is a highly durable, recyclable metal. Its properties mean that it does not oxidise or rust, is hypoallergenic, doesn’t scratch easily and will not tarnish.” Her pieces go through a PVD (physical vapor deposition) gold-coating process. “This new, modern way of plating is ten times thicker than standard gold plating, is environmentally friendly and uses a vacuum coating process, resulting in an extremely durable finish.“A nice added bonus of using stainless steel is its eco credentials. “All our jewellery is 100% recyclable,” she explains. “Stainless steel is made up of chromium, nickel and molybdenum which can easily be separated from other materials, making the recycling process easy. The coating process that the jewellery goes through is 100% environmentally friendly. PVD plating utilises a titanium nitride that provides an extremely durable and tough-wearing coating. It does not use cyanide or create any hazardous waste and does not hinder the recycling process. Traditional methods of gold plating produce harsh chemicals and when not disposed of correctly can cause damaging effects to the environment and the people using them.”

People selling gold to tide over pandemic crunch, say Maharashtra jewellers

PUNE: From meeting hospitalisation costs to paying school fees and shop rents, a growing number of people are selling their gold jewellery to tide over the economic crisis caused by the Covid pandemic Sources in the state jewellers’ associations said there has been an uptick in the number of citizens resorting to encashing their gold assets. “This trend has been fuelled by mounting expenses, such as payment of online school fees, hospitalisation costs and house rents, in face of slashed salaries and job losses. The number of people selling off gold jewellery has doubled in the last few days in comparison to the pre-Covid period,” Fatehchand Ranka, president of the Maharashtra Rajya Saraf Suvarnakar Federation, told TOI on Monday.Ranka said not only people from economically weaker sections, but also those from the upper and middle classes were resorting to such measures. “Gold jewellery, such as wedding ornaments like mangalsutras, have also been sold by families to tide over the economic hardships,” he said.Kumar Jain, president of the India Bullion and Jewellers Association Limited, Mumbai, told TOI, “24-carat gold, which people may have had bought for around Rs 30,000 in the past, is now fetching around Rs 49,000 per 10 gram. Several business owners are selling family-owned ornaments to pay shops rents, electricity bills and staff salaries. It has been over a year since the pandemic began and financial crisis has only worsened, as the restrictions on businesses continue.”Jain said the trend has been more pronounced since the past three to four months with the Covid restrictions becoming more severe during the second wave of the pandemic in comparison to the end of the first wave.Shailesh Ranka, owner at Ranka Jewellers Private Limited , said, “More people are coming to sell off jewellery since a couple of weeks, especially those who have upcoming weddings and need cash to organise such events. The economic crisis caused by job losses and business shutdowns has worsened for many during the second wave and people have to still pay school fees, repay bank loans and ensure household expenses. Till last year, people had reserves. Many also took loans to meet bigger expenses. The reserves are now exhausted and and people do not want to go into further debts by availing more loans.”Jewellers in Mumbai are however not reporting an unusual rise in the number of people coming to pawn or sell their gold ornaments. Albeit the lockdown has caused hardship, citizens are ploughing into their meagre income and savings to make the ends meet or fulfil medical expenses.TOI spoke to large and small firms that offer cash for gold, and only one reported a marginal rise. Arjun Singhvi (Jain) of Mahavir Jewellers in Borivli’s local Zaveri Bazar said a few families have been arriving to sell chains, mangalsutras or bangles to pay medical bills.Representatives of Jugraj Kantilal and Chokshi Arvind, two major gold purchasers in Zaveri Bazar, said the situation in Mumbai was not dire enough to warrant people to sell the precious asset.Ketan Parekh of Chokshi Arvind Jewellers said, “Perhaps that is true of lower income groups or daily wagers who live a hand-to-mouth existence. But one cannot generalise that the middle class Mumbaikars are flocking to sell their jewellery. It is true that jobs have been lost and businesses are losing 20-50% of their income due to lockdown. But families have also automatically had to reduce expenditure. Since malls, theatres and restaurants are closed, their expenses have reduced. The work-from-home culture has reduced overhead costs.”In Bandra, Nilesh Soni of Thanks Gold! near Linking Road said the trend was next to negligible. He said, “I have clients who come to sell gold to buy property but not those that are facing a financial crisis. Maybe such sellers approach small, local goldsmiths.”