Memorial jewellery from ashes.

flowerofthewestx2, I think that is beautiful and a lovely way to keep him with you.

I have this beautiful silver pendant with his ashes integrated into a special resin. I love it. Our children didn't want any remains but I wanted and needed this after 40 years of deep love

I deal in antiques and you should see some of the things the Victorians used to put into lockets and brooches. Hair from the head of the loved one is quite common but also teeth, nail clippings and so on. Strangely enough there are people who collect mourning jewellery and it can fetch quite high rices. The Victorians made an entire cult out of it.

A daughter in law in the far East had 4 pregnancies She used to express milk for her babies for when she was at work The surplus was kept in the freezer
Her 3rd child was miscarried so she had no milk trail
#4 was a healthy baby so milk was produced
At the time, it seemed to be the fashion for such milk to be used in having a bracelet made,,,,,,,each milk bead being marked with the initial of the child for which it had been produced
The problem of lack of milk for #3 was solved by using a mixture of the milk from the other 3 live births
She still wears the bracelet with joy every day but shudders as she approaches the cemetery near whch we live

Each to his own taste but I could use neither milk nor ashes for such commemorative features

Nanatoone
Skip by the posts you find upsetting.
The jewellery is a very personal thing. The expectation that everyone ought to like it is also upsetting for those who have reasons not to choose that way of remembering.

No not for me either. It would be like I had pinched a bit of my husband body and he wasn't complete.

I wear my husband wedding ring under mine on the 3rd finger, left hand which is where it will stay until it's my time.

My husband ashes are at home with me, in our bedroom on the side of his cabinet. I kept his rugby shirts and have one over the top so it's personal with his photo on top.

I also have his lightweight knitted jacket on our bed and a memory bear made of his jeans and one of his rugby shirts.

I do have a necklace made but not with his ashes. The directors of the resting place before his service asked me if I wanted finger prints and hair lock, which I did.

He was due a haircut when he passed so that didn't bother me as we cut our hair.

I had a heart shape silver chain made with his finger print embedded on the back and his name on.

The hair lock in a pouch sits on top of our double urn for when it is my time, we are mixed and scattered together

Some of these responses I’ve found upsetting. My husband died and we had rings for the girls and a
Pendant made for me. They were expensive and very beautiful.
I feel
My husband close to me when I wear my pendant. It’s a tiny bit of ash and it’s not creepy on the least. I used ashes to glass too and they use resin I think. I’d say my pendant is made of resin. You don’t see the ashes as such and it’s not in the least gruesome or creepy. It’s my husband and not something revolting.

It's a big no from me. I have my mum's beautiful jewellery and other random items that I know she loved. That's all I need. When I visit my dad, I can see the spot on the hill where her ashes were scattered and i say hello.

I had a beautiful pair of earrings made from a mixture of both Mum and Dads ashes (only needs a teaspoonful). They both wanted to travel more than they could afford. We travel a fair bit and so they always go with us. My sister recently lost her husband and had a heart pendant made. Not creepy at all!! Brings great comfort.

TerryM 'Grammy Grammy you are aware not everyone is Christian?'
You are aware not everyone is pagan?

Yes, had a ring made for me and my daughter and cufflinks for my son from my parents ashes. Very pleased with the jewellery l
We all wore them at my daughter's wedding and then again at my son's a few years later. It was a comfort to us. Other than then, they've stayed in their boxes but may well re emerge at another family gathering.

Apparently the ashes we are given back probably have very little of our loved one in them mostly wood ash and clothing We have no way of knowing if they are mixed with other people or how pure they are so no it wouldn’t appeal to me at all I have asked my daughter to throw me in the sea one of my favourite places or in the nearby bluebell woods bearing in mind there may not be much of me in the pot anyway

When my friend got her husbands ashes back she didn’t know what to do with them so she put them under her bed Some time later she remarried and yes you ve got it, first husband was still under the bed 😂

It is nice for some but not for me... I would like to remember people as they were, i know my husband has said when he dies he would like his ashes to go into the sea at the same point of where his father was put so that will be granted if he goes first..
I believe that close family who have gone are still with us, especially my Mother who visited a few years ago when i captured a spiritual globe on a photograph i had taken of the New Christmas Tree her old chair was beside it, i knew it was her as she loved Christmas and i still have the photograph..

Wouldn't break up my husband ashes he was adamant as a Christian (rightly so) that his ashes should stay as one. So to remember him I had his battered old 9ct gold wedding ring made into a chunky small heart. It is beautiful and it comes away with me when I travel so I feel he is still with me. It will go to my baby granddaughter who is named after him.

My brothers Ashes were made into a paperweight for my sister, a beautiful necklace for his mother and a bead for me. I think it depends where you have these things done as to how good they look!

I find the idea just as distasteful as Victorian pendants and rings containing hair from the dear departed, so please do check that you children like the idea before having anything made of their father's ashes.

Not aware of this but whatever comforts the bereaved is ok. It's not something that appeals to me in the slightest,, and somewhat cynically I imagine that there are people making a lot of money out of providing these memorials in the knowledge that the bereaved will be willing to pay.

I really couldn't go the jewellery route. Feels weird, but to those who like it, fine.
My father died in 1968. He worked for several years in admin at Kew Gardens so he was scattered in the rose garden. My mother joined him there in the year 2000. We were given early morning access to the gardens before anyone else and it was lovely and peaceful and after the scattering we were free to wander around the whole place. I think my husband - who loves fireworks - would like to be blasted up in one.

Bazza

I don’t really understand the importance of a loved one’s ashes, let’s face it, it’s mostly from the coffin anyway. The people I have loved and lost are in my heart forever. Each to their own, whatever helps you through your loss.

I did investigate this after my mum dies and apparently virtually all of the coffin is burned. The ashes returned to us are almost all tiny bits of bone. Just felt like I needed to know

I admit I have not read the whole thread, but my initial reaction is one of total revulsion.
DH and our baby son were both buried but my parents and PIL were cremated and I cannot think of anything tackier than “turning “ them into a pice of jewellery.

My family live quite near to Ditchfield Glass and they produce some lovely memorial glass containing ashes. I haven’t had anything made yet but I might one day. Not at all cheap but fairly tasteful!

Well said Bazza; memories last for as long as the holder lives, they don't need to be on show.

I did hear of a work colleague having his Mums ashes made into a piece of jewellery, the company concerned 'lost' the ashes apparently. It was all very unpleasant for him and I still do not know if he actually got the item made. Personally, I would not risk it, my memories of my dear Mum and Dad are safe in my heart too.

My DH passed away 7 months ago and I have his ashes at home waiting for mine so they can be disposed of together in some as yet undecided way. I did think of a piece of jewellery but decided against. The undertaker did ask me if I wanted to have a fingerprint taken so I could actually have a ring or pendant with his fingerprint on. At the time I said yes to the print being taken but haven't taken it any further, I think I have 12mths to decide. I thought it might be a comfort to have a pendant but when I mentioned it to DS he thought it was a dreadful idea so I haven't done anything about it, still not sure.

I've had in done with my mums ashes.
The company I used was.
Ashes into Glass.

Ashes are, I assume, a mixture of carbon and calcium. Carbon can be turned into diamond under Very High Temperature and Pressure. I would think this would be impossible and too expensive on the scale of funeral ashes. I am puzzled how the ashes are turned into other coloured stones . As a gemmologist to me the science doesn't add up
The only thing I have seen is to have ashes put into a glass or metal container .