A Legacy of Love

We helped Simone create this beautiful branch ring last summer, and were delighted to see her back in the shop this year to start a new project! Thank you, Simone, for sharing.

I was blessed with two loving moms and three wonderful grandmas. All strong, amazing women who shared their lives with me and left me with a legacy of love and lots and lots of old jewelry. Most of the jewelry sat in my drawer, gold pieces from the '80s and '90s. Think herringbone, gold nuggets, and tennis bracelets. Much of it was broken, but it was too precious to discard. I knew I wanted to take bits and pieces of the old and make something new, but I needed to figure out how to start. One day I walked into InBloom just to check it out. I fell in love with the beautiful nature-inspired designs and began talking with an associate who told me I could bring in my gold, and they would buy it, extract the stones and make a custom piece for me.

 I had three diamonds from my grandmothers' and a diamond from my mother-in-law's engagement ring. I only needed a stone for my momma. My mom did not do diamonds. She was a garnet girl. I chose the branch ring because it reminded me of a family tree. Stacey helped me to pick a beautiful garnet for the center of the ring to represent my mom, with the diamonds from my mother-in-law and grandmothers surrounding it. It turned out beautiful! Designing the ring with Stacey was like a lifeline for me. After a couple of years of extreme grief, I needed something to look forward to. This was both a creative and cathartic experience. I made the ring, a pendant, and earrings with the credit I received for the old gold.

Fast forward to 2023, my husband and I are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, and we are designing a pendant using the diamonds from an old ring. I highly recommend Stacey and InBloom if you want to make a piece of jewelry that reminds you of the people you love and makes you happy every time you look at it.