We Asked a 46-Year Jewelry Artisan at Celebrity-Loved Ashiya Jewelry Studio Feel About Gemstone Remakes and Repairs

“I was sorting through my grandmother’s belongings, and these expensive-looking rings and necklaces turned up!”

“But are they real? The designs feel a bit old-fashioned, so I don’t really want to wear them as they are, but they have sentimental value, and it feels sad to sell them to someone else.”

If you have precious jewelry like that, why not have it remade to suit your own taste?

This time, we visited “Ashiya Jewelry Kobo Feel”, located in Oharacho, near JR Ashiya Station.

↑ It has the romantic atmosphere of a jewelry shop, but it’s also somehow calming. It’s the kind of place where you can take your time and talk about jewelry comfortably♪

↑ The shop also has workshop equipment inside, and they can apparently do simple processing right there.

Our full-scale workshop is in Nishinomiya. Would you like to come see that too?

Really!? Please let me tour a real jewelry workshop!

And so! We got to tour the workshop of Kazuo Kikui, owner of “Ashiya Jewelry Kobo Feel”!

Mr. Kikui is an expert craftsman with an incredible 46 years of experience, and he’s also a jewelry designer. In other words, he’s truly a double threat!

But in Europe, it’s normal to do both. In Japan, there are people who do that with silver, but when it comes to jewelry using gold or platinum, I don’t think there are many people who work as both craftsman and designer.

In 2005, he presented his company’s original brand in New York, where it was purchased by famous Hollywood celebrities including Paris Hilton. In 2007, he was also featured in “Japan’s Excellent Jewelers,” one of Japan’s most prestigious jewelry directories.

(I had no idea such an incredibly talented craftsman and designer had a shop right in front of Ashiya Station…!)

For jewelry remakes, Mr. Kikui and the staff carefully consult with each customer and create a design that matches their preferences.

Because I, the craftsman, speak directly with the customer, one of our strengths is that I can give a rough answer on the spot about what is possible, what isn’t, the budget, and the production timeline. I have the confidence to deliver a piece that matches the customer’s vision, or even goes beyond it.

If the request had to be passed on to a separate craftsman who isn’t at the shop, there’d be extra back-and-forth, answers would take longer, and the final result might end up different from what you imagined, like a game of telephone. I see!

We can remake a ring into a different ring design, of course, but we can also remake it into something else, such as a pendant or earrings.

Some people may not wear rings much, but would use a pendant or earrings! But having someone as amazing as you do it sounds expensive…

Of course it depends on the design, but if we turn a ring into a pendant while making use of the original design, it can sometimes be done for around 10,000 yen. Please feel free to consult with us first, including about your budget!

Work by one of Japan’s top craftsman-designers for 10,000 yen!? That’s way too good a deal!!

Actually, I have some rings and pendants from my grandmother at home too… but I don’t know whether they’re real jewelry. To begin with, what’s the difference between jewelry and things that aren’t jewelry?

The difference between jewelry and non-jewelry accessories is in the materials, such as the base metal and gemstones used.

The difference between jewelry and accessories

At our shop, we can only remake and repair “jewelry”. We can’t work on accessories made with brass, stainless steel, glass, and so on that are not jewelry. However, if, for example, “the base metal is gold-plated brass, but the gemstone is real,” we can use just the gemstone to create a new piece of jewelry.

So there are differences in the materials like that! But I have no idea whether what I have is gold or gold-plated, diamond or glass…

If you bring it to the shop, we can appraise it, but even non-professionals can get a general idea of whether something is jewelry by looking at the hallmark.

Wow! There’s a hallmark in such tiny letters! What does it mean?

First, “Pt.900” means “90% platinum.” For 18-karat gold, it may say “K18” or “750.” The “0.27” and “0.70” after that are the carat weights of the gemstones used.

So if you can tell what material is used from the hallmark, you can figure out that it might be real jewelry!