Huge lot of castings from my Nana’s closed jewelry company from the 80s — any ideas?
Hello all! I’m here to ask for help in figuring out what to do with all of these pieces that I have come to take possession of. After my Nana moved out of her primary residence, my mom and I helped her with sorting through and packing up lots of her stuff. My Nana used to co-own a jewelry company founded in the 80s, and she still has almost all of their castings. She isn’t too keen on having the big box take up room in her home, so it’s been sitting at my uncles house for a while. Recently I asked to take a look at some of it, and he happily handed over the entire collection to get it off his hands.
They are so beautiful to look through, and incredibly special to me due to the story they tell about my Nana from before I was even alive. I’ve asked her about them and she doesn’t really have any insight on what to use them for, instead they mostly serve as a giant box of nostalgia.
I believe the metal for all of these castings is some kind of silver, she thinks it wasn’t quite 925, but since she wasn’t part of the manufacturing process she isn’t too sure. They are all marked with 18K because that’s what the final pieces would eventually be made of. Part of me wants to take them apart and polish them up into pieces for myself, but I also don’t want to alter something so irreplaceable.
Ive sat down today and started going through them, but after less than 50 envelopes I’m already overwhelmed by it all. I have a fairly limited experience with silversmithing and overall jewelry making. I can do the basics of soldering and polishing, but no access to do any kind of casting on my own. My top idea is to find a way to organize and store them safely, and haul them around with me until I’m at a point in my life where I could maybe use them to replicate her old works, or send them off somewhere to have that done.
If anyone has any ideas or insights, please let me know!