If you've been with Jane Finch for a while, you'll know gold filled has been part of the offering since the early days. It was how I built JF into a fine jewellery brand that felt actually reachable — pieces you could wear every day without taking out a small loan. I'm proud of that. And the gold filled I've worked with has genuinely been beautiful quality.
But I'm letting it go. Here's why.
Bespoke work has changed me
Over the last two years, more and more of my time has gone into bespoke commissions. Specifically, melting down clients' own family gold to make new heirlooms. Nonna's chain becoming someone's wedding band. A late father's signet reborn as a pendant their daughter wears every day. That work has rewired how I'm approaching the jewellery I put out into the world.
Solid gold holds value. It can be passed down, melted down, reworked, returned to. It carries forward. Gold filled, for all its lovely qualities, can't do any of that. Once it's found its form, that's final.
The scrap program made it impossible to ignore
I've been quietly building out a scrap credit program, where you can bring in old, unworn solid gold and silver pieces in exchange for a credit toward something new from JF. (More on that below..)
Bluntly put, there isn't enough gold content in gold filled for it to participate in this program. I hate the thought of offering jewellery that I later couldn't intake and rework for you. It doesn't sit right with me.
It limits me as a maker, and this is honestly my biggest peeve.
I'll be straight with you. Gold filled is incredibly restrictive to work with as a small independent jeweller. The techniques I love most, largely aren't possible in gold filled without sending production overseas to mass manufacturers, and this is something that has really bothered me for years. That's not the path for me. I want every piece to come from my bench, my hands, my hammer.
(And yes I once tried to work with a manufacturer on some independent gold filled designs and it was a nightmare.)
Solid gold lets me actually create. It lets me solder, set, texture, and finish the way I want to. It lets the work be mine.
What this means for you
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Gold filled is no longer available on the JF site. Every design you love is still here — just in solid gold (9ct and 18ct, depending on the piece). Replacements for gold filled pieces you've purchased in the past will be subject to material availability, but I'll always do my best to look after you and your jewellery.
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Our Scrap Credit Program is officially open. You can now bring in (or post) your old jewellery to me, and after assaying the material, You'll be offered an account credit at the current market scrap value for these pieces. You can use this account credit however you like, either through purchasing something on the shop, or as credit towards a bespoke piece.
Want to have a chat with me about your old pieces and how we can rework them? Drop me a quick email.
- Bespoke is always open. If you've got family gold you've been meaning to do something with, this is your sign.
Thank you for trusting JF with the pieces you keep closest to you. This next chapter is about making sure every one of them is built to outlast us both.
With love, Steph x