New Westminster Jewellery Guide: Repair, Appraisal, Custom
People come to us from New Westminster for one of four reasons: something broke, something needs a written value, something inherited needs rethinking, or somebody is about to propose. This guide covers all four, with the honest version of how long each takes and what to bring. We are at 2929 Barnet Highway in Coquitlam, and New Westminster is an easy run for us to serve.
Why New Westminster brings us so much inherited jewellery
This is the practical reason we wrote a New Westminster guide with estate work at the centre of it rather than a generic repair page.
New Westminster is old by the standards of this province. The City's own Heritage Management Plan describes it as the oldest incorporated city in British Columbia, notes that in 1860 it became the first incorporated city in Canada west of the Great Lakes, and records that between 1866 and 1868 it served as the first capital of the United Colony of British Columbia. The nickname followed from the naming. Colonel Richard Clement Moody named the site in February 1859 in honour of Queen Victoria, who then expressed a preference for its being called New Westminster, and the city has been the Royal City since. The provincial archive of colonial records at the University of Victoria carries the proclamation text itself and places the city on the north side of the Fraser River.
Old city, long families, deep drawers. A household that has been in Sapperton or Queensborough or the streets above Columbia Street for three generations tends to accumulate jewellery, and that jewellery eventually lands on a kitchen table in front of somebody who has to decide what to do with it. That is the conversation we have most often with New Westminster customers. The rest of this guide is about how we handle it.
What an on-site goldsmith changes for you
We have in-house design and a goldsmith working on site. In plain terms: there is a bench in our shop with a person at it, and you can stand at the counter while your ring is looked at under magnification. That matters in two small ways that add up.
The first is the quote. We can open the loupe, look at the prongs, and tell you the price before you leave the piece, instead of sending it away and phoning you with a number you cannot check. The second is the option to say no. Plenty of people come in braced to spend money and leave without spending any, because the answer was that the ring is fine. We would rather tell you that than invent work.
For estate pieces this also means the person forming the opinion is the person who can see how the metal has worn, where an old repair was made, and whether a mounting is original to the stones in it. Photographs do not carry that.
The repairs we see most on older pieces
Estate jewellery fails in predictable places. Here is what actually comes across the bench, and what we do about it.
- Thin or broken prongs. The most common and the most urgent. Gold wears. Once a prong is thinned, the stone is one knock away from the carpet. We retip or rebuild.
- Worn shanks. The bottom of a ring worn daily for forty years goes thin and can crack. We cut out the worn section and fit new metal.
- Resizing. Fingers change. Our post on whether a ring can be resized covers the cases where the answer is no.
- Pearl restringing. Silk stretches and grays. If the pearls are moving apart along the thread, it is time.
- Rhodium wear on white gold. The plating comes off and yellow shows through. This is normal, and we replate.
- Clasps. Old spring rings fail with age. A modern lobster clasp on an antique chain is a reasonable compromise if you keep the original.
If you want the full repair menu with our timings and the things that drive the price up or down, we set it out in our post on jewellery repair in Coquitlam. One habit worth building either way: check your own prongs. Our guide to loose stone warning signs shows the test, and it takes ten seconds.
Appraisals: which kind you need, and why the date matters
People say "I need an appraisal" and mean three different documents. Getting the right one first saves paying twice.
| Purpose | Value stated | Date it is tied to | Who asks for it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance | Retail replacement cost | Today | Your insurer or broker |
| Estate or probate | Fair market value | Date of death | Executor, estate lawyer, accountant |
| Family division | Fair market value | An agreed date | Siblings, or a family lawyer |
| Selling or trade-in | What a buyer will pay now | Today | You |
The date on an estate appraisal is not a formality. The CRA treats a person who died as having sold all their property just before death, with the deemed proceeds set at the fair market value of the capital property on the date of death. An appraisal dated to the day the executor came in answers a question nobody asked.
On tax, one number is worth knowing before you worry. Jewellery falls under listed personal property, and the CRA applies a floor: an adjusted cost base under $1,000 is considered to be $1,000, and proceeds of disposition under $1,000 are considered to be $1,000, with no capital gain or loss where both sit at $1,000 or less. Most inherited costume and light gold pieces land under that floor and produce nothing to report. A signed period ring with a three carat stone does not. We are jewellers, so take the specifics to your accountant. Our fuller treatment is in our post on appraising jewellery for estate, probate or family division.
Antique, vintage, estate: the words mean different things
These three words get used as synonyms and they carry different information. In the trade, antique usually means a piece around 100 years old or more. Vintage covers a later window, decades old rather than a century. Estate means only that the piece has had a previous owner, so a 2019 ring sold on from a household is estate jewellery without being old at all.
The distinction changes what we recommend. An antique mounting may be the valuable part of the piece and worth conserving even when the style is not to your taste. A 1980s estate ring with good stones is usually a candidate for resetting without anyone losing sleep. We pulled the definitions apart in our post on the differences between antique, vintage and estate jewellery.
One thing we will always check before recommending anything: the marks inside the band. Karat stamps and maker's marks tell us what the metal is and sometimes who made it and when. Our guide to hallmarks and karat stamps in Canada explains what those marks legally mean here.
Resetting an heirloom without wrecking it
The request usually arrives the same way. Somebody inherits a ring, does not wear it, feels guilty about not wearing it, and wants it turned into something they will actually put on.
That is a good reason to reset, and we say so. We also push back in three situations: when the mounting itself is the interesting part, when the piece is signed by a maker worth keeping intact, and when a sibling who has not been consulted might feel differently. Melting is permanent. A drawer is reversible.
When resetting is right, the pattern we suggest most often is to take one piece apart and leave the others alone. Stones from a single ring can carry a whole new design, and the rest of the inheritance stays as it came to you. Our post on resetting a family heirloom goes through the decision case by case.
Custom design: how the appointment actually runs
We have in-house design, so the drawing and the making happen under one roof. Here is the sequence.
- First consultation, 30 to 45 minutes. You bring old pieces, reference photographs, and a budget. We look at what the stones allow.
- Sketch and price range. You leave with both. Nothing is cut, melted or ordered.
- Design approval. We revise until the drawing is right. This stage is where changes are free.
- Making. Typically 4 to 6 weeks from approved design to finished piece. Sourcing an unusual stone extends it.
- Fitting. You try it on, and we adjust.
Bring the dislikes as well as the likes. A customer who says "not this, and not that" gets to a good design faster than one who says "something classic". Full detail sits on our custom jewellery page.
Buying an engagement ring, briefly
If the reason you are reading this is a proposal rather than an estate, the short version: decide on the metal, decide whether the centre stone is natural or lab-grown, and get the finger measured properly rather than guessing from a string. Using an inherited stone in a new engagement ring is one of our favourite jobs, and it needs more lead time than buying from the case, so start early. We wrote a Tri-Cities specific guide on where to buy an engagement ring, and a straight comparison of lab-grown versus natural diamonds from a shop that sells both.
What to bring, whatever you are coming in for
- Everything, including the pieces you assume are junk. Stones hide in ugly mountings.
- Old paperwork. Receipts, previous appraisals, lab reports, insurance schedules.
- A ring size if you have one. If not, we measure you here, which is better anyway.
- Photographs of what you like and dislike, for custom work.
- A budget you can say out loud. It shortens the appointment and gets you a better result.
- The names of whoever else has a say, for estate pieces. Better to raise it now than after the metal is cut.
Pendants in our cases
Resetting inherited stones into a pendant is the option people forget. A pendant carries an old stone comfortably, suits every hand and finger size, and asks nothing of a ring's structure. These are made and sold in our Coquitlam shop.
Key Takeaways
- New Westminster is the oldest incorporated city in British Columbia and served as the first capital of the United Colony from 1866 to 1868, per the City's Heritage Management Plan, which is part of why inherited jewellery is common in local households.
- An estate appraisal is dated to the date of death, because the CRA sets deemed proceeds at fair market value on that date. An insurance appraisal dated today answers a different question.
- Jewellery is listed personal property, and the CRA deems a cost base or proceeds under $1,000 to be $1,000, so most light inherited pieces produce no gain or loss to report.
- Most sizing and prong work leaves our bench in 5 business days; pearl restringing runs 7 to 10 business days; custom work runs 4 to 6 weeks from approved design.
- Bring the ugly pieces too. The mounting may be worthless while the stones inside it carry the whole new design.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is your shop, and how do I get there from New Westminster?
We are at 2929 Barnet Highway, Unit 2424, inside Coquitlam Centre. From New Westminster the usual route is north and east through Coquitlam, and the mall has free covered parking, so you can walk in carrying a box of jewellery without worrying about a meter. By transit, New Westminster is served by five Expo Line stations, and TransLink lists New Westminster, Columbia, Sapperton, Braid and 22nd Street among them. From the Expo Line you connect toward Coquitlam and finish at the mall. We would rather not print a drive time, because the Brunette and Lougheed sections change hour by hour and a number we invented would only make you late. Call us at +1 (604) 653-6449 before you set out and we will tell you whether the goldsmith is at the bench that afternoon.
My parent died and the lawyer wants a value for the jewellery. What do you provide?
We provide a written appraisal that describes each piece and states a value with a date on it. That date matters more than people expect. The Canada Revenue Agency treats a person who died as having sold all their property just before death, and the deemed proceeds are the fair market value of the capital property on the date of death. So an estate appraisal is dated to the death, not to the day you walked in. Bring anything that came with the pieces: old receipts, a previous appraisal, a lab report. Those documents change what we can say with confidence. We do not act as your tax adviser, and an executor should take our written report to the lawyer or accountant handling the estate. Our longer walkthrough is in our post on appraising jewellery for estate, probate or family division.
Is an estate appraisal the same as an insurance appraisal?
They answer different questions and often carry different numbers on the same ring. An insurance appraisal states what it would cost to replace the piece at retail today, because that is what your insurer would have to pay to put an equivalent ring on your hand. An estate or family-division appraisal states fair market value, meaning what the piece would fetch between a willing buyer and a willing seller. Replacement cost is normally the higher of the two. Executors sometimes hand us an insurance appraisal from 1998 and ask us to file it with the estate. We can read it for background, and it still needs replacing with a current fair market value report dated correctly. We cover the insurance side in our post on what your policy actually requires.
Does selling inherited jewellery trigger tax?
It can, and the numbers are smaller than most people fear. The CRA files jewellery under listed personal property, and a floor applies: if the adjusted cost base is less than $1,000 it is considered to be $1,000, and if the proceeds of disposition are less than $1,000 they are considered to be $1,000. Where both the cost base and the proceeds sit at $1,000 or less, the CRA states you have no capital gain or capital loss. A gold chain sold for $600 therefore produces nothing to report. A ring that came into the estate at $18,000 and sells for $24,000 is a different conversation. We are jewellers rather than accountants, so treat this as the background to a question for your accountant, not as advice on your return.
What repairs do you do most for people bringing in older pieces?
Worn prongs come first. Gold wears away against clothing and countertops over decades, and an estate ring that sat in a drawer since the 1970s often has prongs thinned to the point where a knock would release the stone. We retip or rebuild them. After that: resizing, worn-through shanks, broken clasps, restringing pearls, resoldering chain links, and replacing lost small stones. Rhodium plating on white gold is routine, because the plating wears off and the yellow alloy underneath shows through. Antique pieces add one more: old solder joints from a repair done decades ago, which can give way and need redoing properly. We publish our repair list, timings and what drives the price in our post on jewellery repair in Coquitlam. Bring the piece in and we will quote it in front of you before anything is touched.
How long does a repair take, and can anything be done while I wait?
Most sizing and prong work leaves our bench within 5 business days. Watch batteries and simple clasp swaps we often do while you wait, so a trip from New Westminster can be one trip rather than two. A pearl restring runs 7 to 10 business days because the silk has to be knotted between each pearl by hand. Custom work is 4 to 6 weeks from approved design to finished piece. What pushes a job longer is almost always a part we have to order or a stone we have to match, and antique pieces are where that happens most: an unusual head size, a cut that modern calibrated stones do not fit, a clasp style nobody makes now. We tell you the honest date at drop-off rather than the optimistic one.
Should I reset my grandmother's ring or leave it alone?
Our default answer is to slow down. A ring that still wears comfortably and still holds its stones securely does not need us. Where resetting earns its place is when the piece is unwearable, unsafe, or sitting unworn in a box because nobody likes the style. We will tell you when a piece is worth keeping intact, including the times the mounting itself is the interesting part and melting it would destroy the thing you actually inherited. One middle path we like: leave the original alone and use loose stones from a second, less interesting piece in the new design. We wrote about the decision in detail in our post on when to modernise a family heirloom and when to leave it alone.
What should I bring to a custom design consultation?
Bring the old jewellery itself, including the pieces you think are worthless, because the stones inside them are often usable even when the mounting is not. Bring photographs of settings you like and, more usefully, photographs of settings you dislike, since ruling things out moves faster than describing what you want. Bring a budget figure you are comfortable saying out loud. Bring a ring size if you have one, and bring the hand if the piece is for you. If the design involves a stone you already own, bring any lab report. First consultations run 30 to 45 minutes. You leave with a sketch and a price range, and nothing gets cut or melted until you approve a final drawing. Our custom process is set out on our custom jewellery page.
Do you perform piercings?
We do not. There is no piercer at our shop and we do not offer piercing as a service. What we sell is the jewellery that goes into an existing piercing, including implant-grade titanium and solid gold ends in the sizes people actually ask for. If you need a new piercing done, go to a professional piercing studio with a licensed piercer and proper sterilisation. Once the piercing is healed and you want to change what sits in it, that is our part of the job, and we are glad to help you choose a piece that fits your gauge and your anatomy. Bring the jewellery currently in the piercing so we can match the post length and thickness rather than guessing.
Sources
- City of New Westminster: Heritage Management Plan (oldest incorporated city in BC; first capital of the United Colony, 1866 to 1868)
- City of New Westminster: Neighbourhoods Historical Context Statements, Quayside (naming by Queen Victoria; incorporation 17 July 1860)
- University of Victoria, Colonial Despatches: New Westminster (proclamation text; north side of the Fraser River)
- TransLink: SkyTrain schedules and maps (Expo Line stations)
- Canada Revenue Agency: Deemed disposition of property
- Canada Revenue Agency: Completing Schedule 3, personal-use and listed personal property
Data sourced September 2026. City history figures are quoted from the City of New Westminster's own published heritage documents. Tax points are quoted from the Canada Revenue Agency and are general information, not tax advice. Repair and custom timings are our own shop practice and can change with workload.
Visit Vanhess
We are a family-run studio at 2929 Barnet Highway, Unit 2424, in Coquitlam, and we designed and made most of what sits in our cases. If you are coming from New Westminster with an estate box, a broken clasp, or an idea for a ring, call ahead at +1 (604) 653-6449 and we will make sure the goldsmith is at the bench when you arrive. Bring the whole box. We will go through it with you at the counter and tell you which pieces are worth spending money on and which ones are already fine.
