A Stranger’s Gift Begets Custom Design

Custom designed jewelry is the product of many influences. Here is one family's story of how and why they created their own memento... The winter of 1942 was an especially hard year for our family. The effects of the Great Depression were still weighing heavily. A season of drought had destroyed another crop. Now war was separating our family. My grandmother recalls that time with a deep sadness.

That winter marked a year since her childhood sweetheart had gone off to war and promised to return and make her his bride. Only one of her dozens of letters had been answered. A parcel containing a simple silk cord strung with glass beads.

When autumn arrived the following year, so too did my grandfather. War-torn and beaten, he climbed the hill to my grandmother’s farm. “Why did you not write?” she cried. Confused, he told her that he never received a letter. She exposed her wrist where she wore the bracelet as a sign of her unwavering commitment.

They found out years later that another private had received every single letter meant for my grandfather. Why this stranger sent the bracelet, we’ll never know. Had he not though, she may have given up.

On their 50^th wedding anniversary, my grandfather enlisted a jeweler to create a stunning custom designed braceletfor her. She wears it to this day. The silk bracelet was placed in my grandfather’s casket when he passed. A promise from her, that she too will return home one day.