Memorial jewellery led by meaning and sentiment
We’ve been making jewellery to mark important moments in people’s lives for over twenty years, and being trusted to make a piece of memorial jewellery as a physical symbol of a life, or to represent a beloved person or pet, is very humbling and one we take very seriously.
All materials entrusted to us to make a new piece of jewellery from are precious. Whether they take the form of the ashes of your loved one, gold jewellery for re-casting or sand gathered from a favourite beach, we will take the utmost care whilst using them and will keep them safe for you throughout the making process.
We truly appreciate the trust involved in making a new piece of jewellery out of such precious and meaningful materials, and to share in the sentiment behind the jewellery we make is so special to us all - thank you.
If you’re not sure where to start, here are some of the ways we can personalise your piece of memorial jewellery.
Memorial Jewellery from ashes and sand
Our sandcast jewellery is made by pouring molten gold or silver into a mould made with beach sand. As the precious metal flows through the mould, grains of sand get swept up in the gold or silver. When it cools and solidifies, the sand is encapsulated both within the hardened metal and also over the surface of the piece too; you can often see grains of sand embedded in the surface of our sandcast jewellery.
We can incorporate ashes into this casting process by mixing them with a beach sand of your choice. We only need a teaspoon of ashes to cast with, and we will keep them safe and return any that are left over after the casting process.
We have over eight hundred sands in our collection from all over the world which you can choose from, and you’re more than welcome to collect and send us your own sand too - we only need a small handful or enough to half fill a spice jar.
Whether you use sand from a place they grew up, were married on, or have happy memories of, casting memorial jewellery in sand from a special place you shared with your loved one is a wonderful way to carry them, the place, and the precious memories made there with you wherever you go as an enduring element of the design.
Having a piece of memorial jewellery cast with ashes or your own beach sand makes no difference in price. You can simply choose any piece from our Sandcast Collection and let us know you'll be sending us ashes and/or sand, or feel free to get in touch if you have any questions at all.
Remodelling heirloom materials
We often re-cast jewellery that was passed down amongst family members, re-modelling old or broken jewellery into new pieces full of love and imbued with even more meaning. If you were left a piece of jewellery which you can’t wear and are ready to re-form, we can remodel it for you.
We do this best with our sandcasting method, and we can re-cast silver and any colour and carat of gold with this process. If the jewellery you would like to re-use is made of platinum or another material, there are often ways we can re-work these metals too - just get in touch with details and a photo of your jewellery, and we will be able to advise or suggest designs and methods to incorporate it into a new piece for you.
It’s not just metal we are able to re-use; we can also set your own gemstones. Whether you have a single loose gem or several that are still set in a piece of jewellery, we can carefully remove your stones and re-set them in a new design of your choice.
We have a separate post on remodelling heirloom materials here, or do just get in touch if you have any questions or ideas you'd like to discuss.
We have a separate post on remodelling heirloom materials here, or do just get in touch if you have any questions or ideas you'd like to discuss.
Engraved Memorial Jewellery
A beautiful way to dedicate a piece of memorial jewellery is to engrave it. Names and dates are frequently favoured options, but if you would like something a bit different, we can also engrave fingerprints, drawings and handwritten words or messages. We need a good quality photo of the drawing or handwriting emailed to us and using this we will be able to laser engrave it exactly in or on to your piece of jewellery, just as it was written or drawn by your loved one.
Using wood in memorial jewellery
For our wood inlay jewellery, we are able to inlay all sorts of woods in myriad designs. Sometimes the symbolism of the wood itself is enough – oak represents strength and endurance, and yew eternal life, death and rebirth to name but a few. More personally, we can inlay wood you provide yourself if you have some. We’ve used woods from armchairs and kitchen tables, and the floorboards and bannisters of family homes. We’ve inlaid portions of the keels of house boats and the decks of sailing boats, and segments of branches from trees that were planted to commemorate births and deaths, or that our customers played under and climbed in as children. Once, we inlaid a ring with part of a fence post that a great-grandfather placed over a hundred years ago. Wherever your wood is from, we will be happy to inlay it for you if we can: hardwoods are the best choice for wood inlays, and we need a piece that’s approximately two inches cubed and well-seasoned (at least six months), with no splits or cracks in the grain.
Memorial jewellery with gemstones
We’ve often used gemstones to represent someone special in jewellery commissions, and there are several different ways we can do this.
Choosing the gemstone that represents the month your loved one was born is perhaps the most frequently used – you can see all the different birthstones for the different months below.
Other options include choosing a gemstone based on its colour to represent a colourful personality, your loved one’s favourite colour, or the colour of their hair or eyes.
Other options include choosing a gemstone based on its colour to represent a colourful personality, your loved one’s favourite colour, or the colour of their hair or eyes.
January - Garnet
February - Amethyst
March - Aquamarine
April - Diamond
May - Emerald
June – Alexandrite / Pearl
July - Ruby
August - Peridot
September - Sapphire
October – Tourmaline / Opal
November – Topaz / Citrine
December – Tanzanite / Turquoise
Additionally, we are happy to re-set your own gemstones in a new piece of jewellery we make for you. Being able to look at a familiar gemstone that you often saw your loved one wear in your own piece of jewellery can be a lovely way of carrying them with you.
Another avenue that can be explored is turning ashes or hair into diamonds. While it's not something that we can do ourselves, we can certainly set those most precious stones into a piece of memorial jewellery of your choice.
For a guide to the different steps of designing and commissioning a piece of jewellery from us, have a read of our blog posts in the links below:
If what you’d like isn’t mentioned here, we're always happy to hear your ideas. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have something else in mind.
