All jewellery is handmade to order. Therefore, delivery is 6-10 weeks

Old gold

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From old gold to new jewellery

There are many good reasons to recycle old gold: it is more environmentally friendly, makes your new piece of jewellery cheaper, and if the gold holds meaning for you, your new piece of jewellery can also be created from your own old gold.

Your gold helps pay for your new piece of jewellery, regardless of whether we reuse your own gold or craft it from ours.

If you choose to have a new piece of jewellery made from your own old gold, the memories of the loved ones who wore the gold are preserved in the new piece. A typical example could be  wedding rings, where old wedding rings from grandparents or great-grandparents on both sides could be incorporated into the new rings. Recycling your own gold in a new piece of jewellery incurs an additional charge.

The first step is to find out which piece of jewellery you would like, so that we can give you a price for your order. After that, we weigh your old gold or silver and find out what its fineness is – in other words, what carat it is – by looking at the hallmark and testing it. Here are the most common hallmarks:

Gold
333 – is 8 carat (333 parts gold out of 1000)
585 – is 14 carat (585 parts gold out of 1000)
750 – that is 18 carat (750 gold out of 1000)

Silver
925 is sterling silver (925 silver out of 1000)

To determine the value of gold, we benchmark it against New fortune - one of the companies in Denmark that offers the highest price for old gold and silver. We believe this is the fairest approach for our customers. Once we have determined the value of your old gold, we will deduct this amount from the price of your new jewellery. Please note that you can normally offset a maximum of approximately 50% of the price of the new jewellery against the value of your old gold.

Example of an example

  • A BUBBLING INANNA ring in 14k gold with a 4mm pink sapphire and small diamonds, will cost:
    • 11,800 for the ring itself + 4,800 for the stones = 16,600kr. total
  • Here you can actually pay up to kr. 8,300 with the value of your old gold.
  • If you ask us to use the old gold in the piece of jewellery, there will be an extra charge of 800-1000kr, because it is a more expensive process. In that case, the price will be:
    • 600kr, of which 8,300kr can be paid with old gold = You pay 8,300 for your new ring

NOTE! The price changes regularly! This is the current daily price as of 9/9 2026.

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What happens if we need to use YOUR gold in the new piece of jewellery?

We only use your old gold in the new piece of jewellery if you specifically ask for it. The jewellery is then cast in its own flask, so as not to mix it with other people's gold. Here, it is often necessary to supplement with additional gold to ensure a successful casting, but you do not pay extra for this. We also add a little extra 24k (also known as fine gold) to be completely sure that the purity is maintained.

You can read more about how you can transform your old gold into new jewellery here

Gold is alloyed (mixed) with silver and copper to make it harder and cheaper. Old gold is often alloyed differently than modern gold, which can create certain limitations regarding which goldsmithing techniques can be used. In some cases, the metal is more resistant to being shaped after melting down, which causes it to splinter. Therefore, you cannot always ”just” melt the gold down into a bar and make a new piece of jewellery. However, we can avoid these problems if we cast directly in its own mould (investment flask).

You are always welcome to book a design meeting, or drop by to see us so we can best guide you.

If there are many stones that need to be removed from the gold, we charge an hourly rate for the extra work. Afterwards, you will get the stones back, unless they are to be included in the new design.

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What do you do if the old gold is a different carat than the new one should be?

For example, if you have an old 8-carat ring but would like a 14-carat piece of jewellery incorporating your old ring, we alloy it up – meaning that we add some pure gold (24k) when we cast your new jewellery from your old gold. By adding pure gold or silver and copper, we can alloy up or down to your desired carat in this way.

What about silver?

It often makes good financial sense to recycle your old gold to offset the labour costs and possibly also use it to create a new piece of jewellery. Silver is significantly cheaper than gold, which is why it is often only worthwhile if you have a minimum of 30g. You might want to check the daily price of New fortune.

With old silver, the lowest purity we can work with is three-tower silver (830). Please note, however, that we only work with three-tower silver in very rare cases.

All Castens' designs can be made in silver, and you can already check the silver price for many of them by selecting the material in the drop-down menu on the website.

 

Reusing your own stones

We are more than happy to reuse the stones from your old jewellery – or loose stones that you bring with you. In this case, however, the workshop disclaims responsibility should your own stones suffer damage during the setting process. A gemstone that has been worn CAN have hidden fractures which may mean it is destroyed when set in the new piece of jewellery – although fortunately this is very rare. Should this nevertheless happen, we will naturally do our best to find a suitable replacement, which will be added to the final invoice – though at cost price, as we have no interest in profiting from the situation. Should the worst happen, we will always inform you first that it will be necessary to find a replacement, giving you the opportunity to choose an alternative should you wish to do so.

You can always pop by the shop and have your options for reusing your stones assessed. We also have a wide selection of gemstones in the goldsmith's, which you are always welcome to choose from.

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You can also have your piece of jewellery remodeled

Another great way to recycle old gold is by having it remodelled. Here, we base our work on your existing piece of jewellery and alter it, often into something completely unrecognisable. At the same time, we do our utmost to retain any engravings that serve as proof that it truly IS the old piece of jewellery that has been remodelled.

Old gold is an eco-friendly choice

Did you know that the gold we use at Castens is largely recycled? All the gold that has been sold to gold buyers around the world is sent to large factories, which, under controlled conditions, melt it down and extract the pure gold for re-alloying and processing. When we then order gold in the form of, for example, sheet or wire from our suppliers here in Denmark, it is precisely this recycled gold that we buy. Extracting new gold can have massive environmental and human consequences, which is why we fully support recycling the gold that has already been wrested from Mother Earth.

What customers say about us

We make it a point to fulfil our customers' wishes

NANNA HOEG DREYER STRYHN

Recommend Castens.com

Excellent jeweller created my beautiful keepsake ring

I highly recommend Castens if you want to make a dream come true! With great sensitivity and creativity, Karin designed a ring based on my and my late husband's wedding rings. Without significantly changing my own ring, my husband's ring was transformed,...

Christel Seierø

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Jewellery and service in a class of their own

Love coming to Karin's adventurous gallery, where I've had several pieces of jewellery made. Karin is fantastic at offering advice and capturing the distinctive and personal. I give my warmest recommendation.

Aura Haurholm-Holst

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Elegant, beautiful and feminine jewellery for a navel piercing

I contacted Castens because I was looking for a jewellery designer who wanted to try something new and help me create the perfect piece of jewellery for my navel piercing. Karin was that person, and throughout the whole process I felt listened to…

Mr Maymann

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Wedding rings exactly as we wanted them

We had the most beautiful wedding rings made to our own design – they turned out exactly as we wanted and we wear them with pride and joy. Our warmest recommendations flow from Brønshøj to Galleri Castens.

Sandie Jensen

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Beautiful rings for life and love

Lovely shop with creative, warm people. The rings we had made specially for us and our big day, we will never regret. An all-round good experience and we are very satisfied with the result. ❤️

Craig Hermi Herrmann

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Outstanding Art and Fantastic Service

I have bought from Galleri Castens several times and am quite satisfied with both quality and service. The first time I ordered a pendant for an opal I had cut myself for my wife's birthday. It was a "custom" piece and Karin created a design…

Jesper HorsMark

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Talent and professionalism

Castens has with great care created new wedding rings for my wife and I. I am very impressed with her craftsmanship, attitude, service, and especially the quality. I wish many others the same experience as us :-)

Tobias Trolle Andersen

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If you want unique jewellery

If you desire unique jewellery, then Castens is the right place to go. A shop where you will be listened to and where Karin can conjure up the most beautiful jewellery for you. Our wedding rings became completely our own, fitting us perfectly. Thank you very much to Castens.

Christina Merolli Poulsen

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Ring made from my old jewellery

I had inherited some jewellery that wasn't quite my style. But the gold was lovely and the stones were beautiful, so Castens created a little fairy tale of a ring, which I now wear daily. I've been very happy with the process and am very pleased with...

Helene Schultz

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Engagement ring resizing

I had my engagement ring resized a few years ago. We went in to discuss the design, we repurposed the old mass-produced ring and Karin came up with several good suggestions to jazz it up. Then we talked about different stones. Normally I am...

Henriette Stilling

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Unique, personal, and completely beautiful

I've had several bespoke pieces made at Castens. All the jewellery is exquisite, unique, beautiful and super feminine in all its splendour and simplicity. I wear my jewellery every day – and am still delighted by how beautiful it is and how all of them have…

Regitse

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Adventurous

Beautiful jewellery in lovely surroundings. You feel welcome at Galleri Castens from the start; the atmosphere is cosy, the surroundings are lovely, and the jewellery is fantastic. The service is friendly, open, and they listen to you. If you need adjustments, you're very welcome to go in there. Can only…

Lisbeth Andersen

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Personal and unique creations

So far, I've had 3 very different and personal rings made. And each time I'm just as excited about the creative process as I am about the result. I don't have the visual abilities to imagine the finished product, but I've never been disappointed -...

Lene Frederiksen

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The adventure begins with a dragon.

I am so fortunate to be able to call one of Karin's pieces of jewellery my own. She was having a sale in her shop, but as several of us couldn't make it to the shop via FB, she changed the sale so that it continued via FB for us...

Maria Gabelgaard Hansson

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Really good experience

We came in with an idea, but left with something absolutely perfect and unique. Thoroughly sweet and very professional service. Super guidance and advice. -And we are now the happy owners of the most beautiful and very personal rings. It was lovely to meet…

Julie Stamp

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Professional, engaging, fantastic service and wonderful jewellery

I asked Karin to remodel my father's old wedding ring so that it had flair and became entirely my own – inspired by another piece of jewellery and with an understanding of my love for champagne-coloured diamonds, she created a truly fantastic ring, which is just...

Susi Tribler

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I have received an old heirloom…

I've had an old heirloom transformed into a fantastic pendant, so now I can wear my memories around my neck. It's a great pleasure to work with Castens, who throughout the entire process have been deeply professional, whilst also making a great effort to...

Claus Hermansen

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Karin did everything to get our rings…

Karin worked hard to get our rings ready and wow, what a result and such a great price. My girlfriend loves the delicate 12 stones and the raw look with the brushed gold. Very happy with the price for 2 pcs. 14-carat gold rings and…

Kåre Knudsen Brink

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Engagement ring

It was a fantastic experience; I received help designing an engagement ring, and it was perfect for us. The process was good, with excellent input that made my wishes for a ring a reality. There was good energy and positivity throughout...

Rasmus Greve

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A fantastic experience.

I had something important to ask my girlfriend, and of course, it had to be done with a ring. It was a fantastic collaboration with a great design process, brainstorming, and production of a ring for life for the one person who means everything to me. It has truly been a…

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