What is Cremation Jewelry and Where Does it Come From?
For centuries, cremation jewelry has been a way of honoring someone who’s passed away. But just what is cremation jewelry and where does it come from? Taking many different shapes and forms, these keepsakes are unique as the individuals they’re designed to represent.
Many people use cremation jewelry as a way to help them progress through the various stages of mourning. This is as true today in 2021 as it was when cremation jewelry was first created thousands of years ago.
What exactly is mourning?
The state of mourning begins when we start to process what has happened to us and how we plan on dealing with the void that has been left in our lives. Author Jade Kramer explains: “While grief is the emotional reaction/response to loss, mourning is the process one undertakes to deal with the void that is now left. Mourning is the process of acclimating to living a life without this special someone or something”.
People deal with loss in many different ways. While some find solace in religious practices, others find alternative solutions, such as cremation jewelry. All choices are valid and how we deal with the lingering sense of loss is down to each individual.
Author Jill Scott writes, “In the absence of more prescribed mourning practices, small ceremonies and symbolic gestures will inevitably crop up. People will create makeshift memorials as places to gather in times of grief, to place a flower, light a candle or just reflect in silence.”
What is cremation jewelry?
Cremation jewelry honors a life well-lived and serves as a loving reminder of the laughter, love and happiness someone special brought into the world. This important keepsake takes many shapes and forms, including:
- Miniature urns: Often worn as a pendant on a necklace, these small urns are subtle and contain a small portion of ashes of the person they’re designed to commemorate.
- Glass beads: Featuring in necklaces, bracelets, pendants and rings, these glass beads come in a variety of colors and have a portion of ashes swirled within them as a visual reminder.
- Cremation diamonds: Genuine diamonds made from the ashes of someone who’s passed on, these gemstones can be placed in all kinds of beautiful settings to form cremation jewelry.
While there are several different types of cremation jewelry, they’ve all got one thing in common: they contain the ashes of someone who’s passed away. Serving as a permanent reminder of a loved one who’s no longer around, cremation jewelry is a wonderful way to hold onto someone’s memory and think about the good times.
How did cremation jewelry begin?
Mourning jewelry, a very early form of cremation jewelry, can be traced back as far as the ancient Romans. There’s even information to suggest that memorial jewelry goes back further than the ancient Romans, with earlier people making keepsakes from teeth, bones, skin and blood.
Introduction of memento mori jewelry
By the 16th century, memorial jewelry really began to take shape. Back then, this form of jewelry was known as “memento mori” jewelry. Translated from Latin, this means “remember you must die” jewelry.
These valued pieces would depict death-related motifs, such as skulls, skeletons, coffins and worms as a stark reminder to the wearer of their mortality and the obligation to pray for the dead. While it might seem quite morbid now, this type of jewelry was really popular at the time and worn in various different forms.
Memento mori jewelry wasn’t in honor of a specific person. Instead, it was a general reminder to encourage virtuous living and to make the most of life. It wasn't until the 17th century that jewelry was created in memory of specific individuals.
Creation of memorial jewelry
Queen Victoria was the person who made memorial jewelry so popular in the Victorian times. After she showed a preference for it, memorial jewelry was worn by ordinary people everyday in the form of rings which served as a constant reminder of the loved ones who influenced their lives in countless ways.
To honour her late husband Prince Albert, Queen Victoria wore black clothing and jewelry for decades. The queen’s memorial jewelry was made from jet, a form of fossilized coal, which was quite expensive at the time.
More affordable forms of memorial jewelry were also made from ivory, pearls, jewels, glass and black enamel. As few people had enough savings to afford memorial jewelry, they often used the money they received from the person who passed on to pay for it.
Rings were the primary form of memorial jewelry, as they could be worn everyday and were suitable to wear with any piece of clothing. But as the keepsake grew in popularity, its forms expanded into cameos, necklaces, pendants, earrings, bracelets and lockets. These pieces of jewelry commonly included a lock of the hair of the person who had passed away.
Transition to cremation jewelry
As technology progressed over the years, this type of keepsake slowly transformed from memorial jewelry to cremation jewelry. Instead of including a lock of someone’s hair, the piece incorporated ashes leftover following cremation. The result is much more sophisticated jewelry, designed to last for many years and evoke happiness with every glance.
While memorial jewelry was often used as a way to show to others that someone was in mourning, today cremation jewelry has a much more positive impact. Instead of being a reminder of death, it reminds the wearer of all the wonderful memories the person created when they walked the Earth.