At Alexis Gallery, we work with clients who want to honour the past while designing something they’ll love wearing every day. Our heirloom design process is collaborative, approachable, and highly personal.
We’re often able to work with structurally sound diamonds that are 3.00mm or larger in diameter.
To get started, simply email photos of your piece(s), along with any paperwork or background information, to info@alexisgallery.com. We’ll review everything and let you know if we’re able to work with your materials—and share clear next steps.
Please note: we’re unable to work with outside-purchased diamonds, gemstones, or coloured stones. We only work with heirloom diamonds from personal or family collections.
Many heirloom rings aren’t built for modern life. Settings may be delicate, stones may feel too exposed, and older styles may not reflect your taste. You might love the story, but not the setting—or the ring might hold a lot of meaning but not feel like something you’d wear every day.
Redesigning an heirloom engagement ring gives you the best of both: a piece that honours the past while aligning with your lifestyle. It’s about creating something beautiful and deeply personal—something you’re proud to wear, not just store.
Some of our favourite projects involve repurposing a family stone into a brand new engagement ring. We work with recycled metals, hand-finished details, and exceptional craftsmanship to preserve what matters most and give it new life as a special piece designed just for you.
Our redesign process is simple, personal, and rooted in care.
Not at all. Redesigning a family ring is often seen as a way to continue the story—not erase it. We approach every heirloom redesign with the utmost respect for the piece and its history.
That’s completely fine. We frequently work with clients who are starting with a loose heirloom center stone or a dismantled ring. It’s a great way to honour the original without feeling limited by its past form.
Yes! As long as the diamonds are safe to reset and meet our minimum size requirement, many clients come to us with heirloom diamonds from both sides of the family. We love creating pieces that blend multiple histories into one meaningful design.
This comes down to risk/safety of resetting. Setting a gemstone requires the stone to encounter substantial pressure. Heirloom gemstones other than diamonds have a higher risk of cracking or chipping during the resetting process. Many have often encountered a lifetime (or more) of wear and may have imperceivable inclusions that would make the stone prone to damage. Out of respect to these gemstones and their history, we don’t risk the chance of potential damage.
When modern mele diamonds (the small ones used as accent stones) are sorted by size, they go through a process called calibration. This is a way to ensure that stone colours and clarity match and that sizes are precise – down to the first decimal point of a millimeter (i.e. 1.10mm, 1.20mm, 1.30mm etc.). This ensures that the finishing can be super precise and each setting has the perfect stone size to complete the design. Heirloom methods were less precise and can result in less ideal calibration. This mismatched stone issue is most common with heirloom mele diamonds under 3.00mm.
We can use the scrap value of your gold towards a new piece. In order to cast properly, gold must be newly alloyed (casting “old gold” causes casting problems).
Heirloom redesign pricing starts at $3,500+hst and varies depending on complexity, metal choice, and scope. We’ll walk you through options that work for your budget, whether you’re looking to keep things simple or create an extravagant reimagined ring. No matter the new style, every one-of-a-kind heirloom engagement ring will have custom details created just for you.
We’re proud to work with clients across Toronto and throughout Canada, who want to redesign an heirloom ring or create new life from a family stone. Whether you’re honouring a parent, blending family legacies, or creating a future heirloom of your own, we’d be honoured to help.
Book your phone consultation to start your redesign journey. Let’s create something that feels complete—built from what you’ve inherited, and made just for the life you’re building next.
