Wearable Family History
One of my favorite type's of projects is redesigning family heirlooms. I love connecting with my customers and learning about their family stories and the history behind the pieces they've inherited. It's also a really important part of the design process because I need to make sure that I'm capturing the sentiment behind the piece and that it's history can be cherished in a new form.
This is one of the many stories behind the custom pieces that I've designed, written by a lovely customer of mined named Lisa:
"The creativity in this picture is really so deep emotionally it can’t be photographed. The gems in these rings that Jennifer custom made for me walk through the lives of strong beautiful women before me and consequently the strong woman I became. My relationship with Jennifer all started with the emerald ring. It was my great aunt who passed away at 96 who I can credit for that. I was with her in her home the day she passed. Holding my hand she said: 'Please take this ring (one emerald, two diamonds) to your mom but I want you to have the emerald.' I had it for a long time before I knew who would do the honor of making it mine.
Next, the small diamonds in the rings and earrings are from the ring my husband gave me. I was just 25 and thought I was so sophisticated wearing it. Like so many things, it became dated (good thing he didn’t, married 37 yrs!). Those diamonds were on my finger as I became a confident young woman. They remind me of the growth of my career, my love for my husband and most of all, my growth to independent womanhood.
Last but not least, my beautiful sapphire ring was Jennifer's latest incredible creation! The gems came from my mother. My mom gave the original ring to me 25 yrs ago. I wore it when I was working at times, but mostly it was in my jewelry case. It was very precious to me as it was a ring she wore when I was growing up. Jennifer gave it life as only she can! I love it so much and now wear it as a stacking ring almost every day. My mom is so pleased to see it on my finger again.
When I first met Jennifer and had the emerald ring made, I was shy about spending on myself for jewelry. But she quietly helped me see I was doing justice to important memories. I now know some day (I hope a long time from now) the amazing younger women in my family will wear my heart-filled jewelry made by Jennifer and they will feel the same way I do when they wear them.
Strong, proud, worth it and they will think of me, that’s comforting!"
Interested in reimagining an heirloom? Learn more about custom services at Jennifer Dawes Design.
