Sentimental jewelry is always an honor to create, and I really loved being able to make this gorgeous 14 karat gold fern pendant recently. My client had recently celebrated the birth of her new granddaughter, named Fern, and wanted to give her daughter-in-law a custom piece of jewelry as a gift. She wanted to keep it simple and realistically depict a fern frond in a pendant, and after just a couple of sketches we had the design. The details of the leaves translated beautifully into gold, and I hope my client’s daughter-in-law loves her special pendant and is reminded of her daughter whenever she wears it.

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Engagement rings can be one of the most sentimental and special pieces of jewelry a person owns and wears daily, and it’s an honor to make one for a couple, especially when they’re family. I recently had the honor of making an engagement ring for my sister, Bethany, which was definitely the most meaningful project I’ve worked on so far.

Her fiancé came to me with a diamond he had carefully selected for Bethany, along with his mother’s engagement ring so the gold from her ring could be used in my sister’s ring. At the beginning of the design process Bethany was involved, offering up ideas she would like while I worked on some sketches, but her fiancé made the final selection so her ring could still be a bit of a surprise.

Keeping with the original idea she seemed to fall in love with, we went with a floral style ring, turning her diamond into a flower surrounded by tiny sage leaves, atop a tapered ring band. I have to say, photos don’t quite do this ring justice, and I completely fell in love with it by the time it was done (a feeling I love to have about the custom projects I work with clients on!).

The final ring is a size 4.5 in 14 karat white gold (recycling gold from another ring), with a .9 carat sparkling diamond in a six prong setting. Bethany’s ring is absolutely stunning, comes with the benefit of being designed especially for her, and the sentimentality of being made with gold from her mother-in-law’s ring.

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Working on a project as sentimental as this one is extremely rewarding. This client was looking for something to remember her nana by that she could have with her all the time, and a necklace full of meaningful charms was the perfect way to accomplish this. Her nana loved being outside, and she loved lily of the valley flowers and stephanotis flowers. During the planning of this necklace, my client shared with me that one of her favorite memories was when her nana showed her how to wear those maple pods playfully on her nose- they always called them Pinocchio noses. In the spring, when she walked around and saw all the maple trees dropping their pods she was reminded of her nana and the wonderful times they shared.

Using these natural items as inspiration, I created a necklace consisting of hand sculpted sterling silver charms. Her nana was born in June, so we incorporated a beautiful moonstone into the design, one of the June birthstones. On the back of the setting is a window in the shape of the heart, symbolizing all the love shared with her nana. There’s also a lily of the valley flower with a white freshwater pearl in the center, a stephanotis blossom, and a maple seed pod.

Hearing how much my client loved this necklace when she received it, and how touched her mother was to see this piece made in memoriam of her own mother really meant the world to me. I’m honored to have been able to create something that holds so much meaning for someone else.

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