A Necklace for a Grandmother’s Memory

Transforming an Inherited Object into Wearable Form

June 2020
18k Gold, Sapphire & Diamonds

The Question

How can jewellery preserve emotional connection by transforming a meaningful personal object into a new wearable form?

In 2020, I was commissioned to create a necklace for a client whose grandmother was living with severe memory loss. The family wanted to preserve the emotional significance of a ring that had belonged to her — not as a static keepsake kept in a box, but as something that could be worn every day and remain present in daily life.

The central question became how an inherited object could continue to carry memory and attachment after being transformed, rather than simply being copied or left unchanged.

18k gold necklace with sapphire and diamond accents, designed as a keepsake transforming an inherited ring, by Mehdi Valiee
Completed necklace — a wearable form carrying memory and emotional attachment through transformation.

Searching for Form

Rather than reproducing the original ring, I designed a new composition inspired by an angel with open wings. The exact form of the inherited ring was placed at the centre of this structure, allowing the original object to remain recognisable while giving it a renewed presence and scale.

This decision was intentional: the ring would not disappear into a new design, nor would it be presented as a pure replica. It would become the conceptual and formal centre of a larger wearable form.

The project moved through digital modelling in Matrix, resin prototyping for evaluation, casting, stone setting, engraving, and final hand finishing. At each stage, the relationship between the original ring and its new setting was carefully maintained.

Inherited gold ring with dark gemstones that became the conceptual centre of a new necklace design by Mehdi Valiee
The inherited ring that became the conceptual centre of the project.
Digital jewellery designs in Matrix showing sapphire and diamond necklace concepts based on an inherited ring, by Mehdi Valiee
Digital concept development in Matrix — exploring form and stone arrangement before prototyping.

Material Translation

Gold, sapphire, and diamonds were combined to translate the emotional weight of the inherited ring into a contemporary necklace. The original form remained visible at the heart of the composition, while the surrounding structure of wings, stones, and metalwork gave it a new spatial and symbolic presence.

The design does not treat the ring as a decorative fragment to be reused. Instead, it reinterprets the object so that memory and attachment can continue through transformation rather than replication. The necklace becomes both a carrier of the past and a wearable form suited to the present

3D-printed red resin prototype of a necklace design based on an inherited ring, prepared for evaluation before casting, by Mehdi Valiee
Resin prototype for evaluation before casting — testing structure and proportion.
18k gold necklace structure after casting and hand finishing, before stone setting, designed by Mehdi Valiee
Final assembly and hand finishing — preparing the gold structure before stone setting.

Reflection

This project investigated jewellery as a vessel for memory and emotional continuity. By choosing transformation over reproduction, the work asked under what conditions a personal object can retain its significance while taking on a new material life.

The original ring carried a specific history: it had belonged to a grandmother whose memory was fading. Keeping the ring unchanged would have preserved its form, but risked isolating it as a static remnant — something no longer worn, no longer present in daily life. Reproducing it exactly would have produced a copy, but would not have addressed the deeper need of the family: to keep the emotional presence of the object alive in a form that could be worn every day.

By placing the exact form of the ring at the centre of a new composition, the design allowed the original object to remain recognisable while giving it a renewed structure and scale. The surrounding form — inspired by an angel with open wings — did not erase the ring; it framed and extended it. In this way, the necklace became both a carrier of the past and a wearable object suited to the present.

The work suggests that emotional attachment in jewellery is not fixed solely in the original material object. It can be sustained, and even renewed, through careful acts of transformation. The finished necklace does not merely contain the inherited ring; it repositions it. Through this repositioning, the piece explores how contemporary jewellery can hold personal history, care, and attachment — allowing an inherited object to remain present in daily life rather than becoming a distant keepsake.

stone setting with sapphire and diamonds – a necklace for a grandmother’s memory
Stone setting with sapphire and diamonds — completing the wearable form.
18k gold necklace with sapphire and diamond accents, designed as a keepsake transforming an inherited ring, by Mehdi Valiee
Completed necklace — a wearable form carrying memory and emotional attachment through transformation.

Documentation

The project is documented through the inherited ring, digital concept development, resin prototyping, final assembly and hand finishing, stone setting with sapphire and diamonds, and the completed necklace.