Mother’s day and Father’s day is around the corner and it got me to thinking about generational jewellery.
I often have client’s bring in jewellery that they inherited from a treasured grandparent and they want to melt it to make something sentimental for their kids. But sometimes it’s just old unworn and unsentimental jewellery that gets melted down into something that does in fact mean something.
In the necklace photo above, I used a grandma’s jewellery to make necklaces for her granddaughters. The bracelets were made from a mom’s old silver jewellery and featured the birthstones of mom, two daughters, and one granddaughter. And the rings were made from grandma’s old jewellery that was turned into a ring for mom, daughter, and grandaughter.
Although I don’t have any photos on hand, I often turn old jewellery into I.D. bracelets and rings for men as well.
If you are considering making some generational jewellery, here are some things to consider:
1) what will the recipients wear? I know it’s a gift so if they don’t wear it, that’s on them. But, do you want to pay for an item that is going to collect dust in a drawer? Not all the items you order have to be the same. You can pick a combination: maybe 2 rings and 2 necklaces but in the same style. No point buying a ring for someone who hates rings. Kind of kills the sentiment!
2) do you want to add stones? Do you have the stones? If not, I can supply them. People often pick birthstones because it’s a defining feature.
3) is there something special you want the jewellery to represent? A few years ago a client asked me to create a set of necklaces that were all circles in shape (not the ones pictured above) because she liked the idea of the circle of life.
4) if your family grows, will you be adding jewellery down the road? For example, a client just called to say she has a new grandbaby and therefore needs another necklace and a diamond has to be adding to the ones I had previously made to represent the new baby!
I’m getting more and more people gifting generational jewellery sooner than later. It seems as though people are tired of having jewellery they don’t wear collecting dust in a jewellery box or in the bank. They want their loved ones to enjoy the jewellery sooner than later. Sometimes I don’t even melt down their old jewellery, I just fix it up/size it/etc so they can regift it!