Sometimes you’re asked to make a piece so personal and sentimental it hurts. This handwritten signature necklace is one of those pieces. The main thing I love about making custom jewelry, and really, all jewelry, is that each piece is a personal totem. As humans, there is no functional reason for us to adorn ourselves. Yet, we do. We pick up trinkets that personally mean things or symbolize a piece of our lives or ourselves, and wear them proudly for the world to see.

We tell our stories in the jewelry we choose to wear.

For this particular necklace, I was asked to memorialize a story that ended too soon. It was built for a mother, who had lost a son before his time. His sister commissioned the piece as a Christmas present, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the result. The pendant of the necklace is her son’s exact handwriting, worn on the side so the world can remember him. I was given a sample of the handwriting, and then used Computer Aided Design (CAD) to recreate it exactly. I then prototyped the piece, cast and assembled it. It’s a piece made with love. And, while it can never come close to replacing what was lost, maybe wearing it will help keep his story going.