I have done quite a few alterations to make jewelry more wearable. From watch conversions to the addition the of turquoise or other alterations. Are there certain pieces of jewelry we shouldn’t mess with? Is it disrespectful to alter a vintage piece or signed piece, or is it totally fine for an owner to alter a piece they own?
I’ll start with an older watch cuff. The decision was weather to find a watch to insert of alter it by adding a turquoise cab:
Before:
Here is my 2 cents worth. I’m not a purist or OCD over anything. As I recall, the watch cuff was popularized as a fashion accessory in the 70s and 80s. It’s no longer “in”. So unless it has more value due to the maker and provenance, I would go with the modification to add the stone. That looks very nice and works well with the cuff the way you have it laid out.
“Everything made by man may be destroyed by man; there are no ineffaceable characters except those engraved by nature; and nature makes neither princes nor rich men nor great lords.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
I have done some of the typical converting of screwback earrings to posts (my mom’s from the 40’s), but have also had a couple items changed completely from what they originally were. I really wanted some silver dipped birch leaf earrings, but couldn’t find any until we were in Victoria, BC. A little tiny store had silver birch leaves on pendants (not Native made) and I asked them if they could switch them to earrings. Voila!
A much bigger change was converting my Hopi Leon Lomakema buckle to a pendant. It was a small buckle that I loved, but never wore, so I had a store in ABQ Old Town do the switch. I worked out perfectly, and now I wear it often.
I still hope to do something with these lovely natural turquoise stones (those are not cracks in the stone on the right) that at one time made up another pair of my mom’s Navajo earrings from the 40’s.
