Yesterday I decided to get a new battery for my favorite watch. At one time I had a real fetish for watches; I must have 5 or 6 good ones just in the top drawer of my desk. One in particular has long been my favorite. It’s a Seiko Chronograph with a brass tachymeter and brass dials. Very classy and functional.
After arriving at the jewelry store, and while I was waiting for the watch to be returned to me, I asked about having our two wedding bands melted down and made into a celtic knot. The head clerk was very helpful and explained that I would need to find a reputable goldsmith. It seems that gold wedding bands have more than just yellow gold in them. There are some trace amounts of alloy and if the ring is simply melted and cast into an ingot, the alloy with taint the color, most likely turning it a dull gray color. The metals have to be separated in order to prevent the “tarnishing” from happening.
She also indicated that I would likely need more gold added to the resulting supply in order to make the pendant I desired. And she warned me to check references before choosing a goldsmith, that because the rings, and therefore the gold in them, had great sentimental value to me, I should make sure the goldsmith returned my gold to me once he was done.
All of which was rather off-putting to me. I’m not ready to give up the two rings, especially hers. I carry them with me everywhere I go in my shirt or pants pocket. It maybe that I’ll never feel like transforming them into something else. Like donating her clothes to Goodwill made me feel like I was betraying her memory (and these were clothes she had stopped using), not having her wedding band to hold anymore would be very difficult to accept.
For now, I’m keeping the rings, just as they are.
