A New Family Heirloom: Selecting Custom Family Jewelry

Many of us can think of a treasured family keepsake in the form of an old watch, a cherished ring, a pair of experienced cufflinks passed down through the generations. Family Jewelry is a great way to commemorate a momentous occasion or a family legacy. Oftentimes, such pieces are used to "pass the torch", so to speak, between one generation and the next, as these beloved pieces bridge the gap between young and old.

But these family traditions have to start someone, so when you're purchasing jewelry for yourself or a loved one, it's ideal to imagine as though that piece will one day be in the hands of your grandchildren, or even further down the family line. The piece you choose should also be reflective of the personality of the one you buy it for, so that as years go by it serves as a constant reminder not only of your family's heritage, but of the unique individual who first owned it. Choosing a styled ring that represents that individual and placing each gemstone that represents a person in the family can be a very exciting and gratifying experience. Another idea is gathering the information of everybody's birth month that will be represented in the ring or necklace, and buying birthstones accordingly. Connect with the recipient or the other members of your family together on whether to use white gold or yellow gold, and deliberate if your new piece of Family Jewelry should be made of 10 karat gold or 14 karat gold. The decision has weight! 10 karat gold is harder and stronger and will stand up to harder wear or 14 karat which looks richer and more buttery, but is softer and will show small dings and nicks, giving the ring an evolved, unique personality over the years.

You can use unique family jewelry for a Christmas gift, Birthday gift, Mother's Day gift, or any time. A Mother's ring can feature the birthstones of just her children, for example, or could also feature the birthstones of the children and the birthstone of the mother and father. These unique family heirloom pieces of jewelry can be designed to represent any family or even portion of a family: a grandmother would treasure a ring boasting the genuine birthstones of all of her grandchildren. You can also decide if you would like to use synthetic or lab created gemstones versus genuine gemstones.

Certain months that have precious gemstones to represent them can be very expensive: April, May, July and September can be especially expensive as they are represented by diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire, respectively. Your piece of family jewelry can be designed with a combination of genuine and synthetic stones. These family jewelry rings and necklaces are truly dynamic and can be transformed over and over again throughout the design process.

Getting a group together and designing a piece of family jewelry as a group, whether it is siblings or cousins or any group is a great experience and a large component of the end gift. Mom, grandma, an aunt or any special recipient will be overwhelmed with emotion when presented with this form of heartfelt keepsake, a piece of custom designed family jewelry. These pieces of family jewelry are treasured for passing along from one generation to the next, and are a great way to show someone how much they are loved here and now.