The Entire Ocean in a Drop

From the moment she could walk, my daughter was drawn to the sea. First in and last out, wearing a head-dress of seaweed and waving banners of kelp, she would spend hours in the water and along the shoreline. Appropriately, she was born in March which has the birthstone Aquamarine. The pale blue or blue-green coloured gem is the perfect clear sea water colour.

Recently I had the unique experience of making a surprise jewel for her 18th birthday. Over a year ago, I saw a beautiful aquamarine facetted in the shape of a heart. Knowing it was unlikely I’d see another stone quite as perfect for her, I bought it and kept it safe.

The wave being created

 

I wanted to create something that represented my daughter’s connection with the sea a wave pendant seemed an obvious choice. I also wanted it to be very much ‘from me’ so worked with my own inspiration and thoughts, in my own style.

For the pendant I wanted to design something simple but descriptive of the sea and the delicate balance of my daughter’s life in the ocean landscape she loves so much. Like many young people, she prefers her jewellery to be in silver or white metal, and I decided to use platinum. It is very white, strong, takes a high polish and is perfect for stone settings.

I selected two diamonds to add to the design, representing sea foam and the glint of light on water. I chose old-cut diamonds from an unused family ring. Old cut diamonds are more irregular than modern ones; for this reason, I feel they have much more charm and character. They have a sense of the rock they originated from. I liked the idea of adding a kind of authenticity of materials and their origin landscape to the pendant, and also the idea of the family connection in their history and source.

The wave necklace being worn.

 

Instead of a regular jewellery box, I decided to present the pendant in the middle of an ‘explosion box’ of personal messages, photos, memories, inspirations and pictures gathered from all of my daughter’s friends and family. The box took much longer than the pendant to make! Nestling in the heart of the box I left her one of my favourite quotes by Sufi poet Rumi: ‘You are not a drop in the ocean, you are the entire ocean in a drop.’