This started out as a pair of Bond Boyd earrings belonging to my grandmother. She passed away several years ago, and my mother has been wanting to wear them in her memory... except that my mother doesn't wear earrings. She handed the earrings to me to turn into a circular brooch a couple months ago. I may have embellished a little. All the metal is sterling silver, except for the pin which is bronze. On Friday she gets the pin for her birthday in the original box. Shh.

Yes, you can melt down old jewelery for scrap and walk away with a fraction of the intrinsic value while some obnoxious git who pronounces "cash" with far too many "A"s keeps the greedy difference, but I think it's more meaningful to keep the spirit of the piece alive.