Jewelry and memories

Through the history of jewelry from past until today, memory carriage has always had an importance to make someone wear a jewel. From Anne Boleyn’s “B” necklace to the Lover’s Eye and nowadays Pandora’s charm bracelets, memories are taken into priority to be worn by jewelries. When I have made my research about the relation between jewelry and memories through history, I recognized the importance of memory carriage on jewelry. It has surprised me how a jewel -when it has a link with a memory of the wearer- affects the willingness of the person to use a jewelry piece by being given more importance to carry it. In other words, when people create links between themselves and the jewels, they have something more than a jewel but a private and valuable piece to wear. This shows there is a reason behind for carrying that piece. Through the history, especially with lockets, this is even more came into prominence with direct carriers of people’s memories through photo, hair, letter etc. Furthermore, by the effect of social media today, I realized that people need more private area to keep/hide some moments just for themselves. Thus, the aim of this study is to find a way to touch people’s lives with a precious jewelry collection which takes its preciousness from its user’s unforgettable memories. It is a collection that has been made to give its user a modern way to carry that special memories. The collection consists of basically one unit that can become different accessories as bracelets, necklaces and a brooch by changing a part on the back closure. Moreover, I have chosen an interactive way to design my collection in order to allow the users to involve in the design process and give them a personalized item which I believe is another the best way to create links between user and the jewels. This interactive way is the mysterious side of the collection which underlie in the movement of the mechanism on the unit design. The inspiration has been taken from the camera iris mechanism. First, it is needed to place a photo/image inside the unit. After, the mechanism provides the option to use it in both which the photo will be visible and invisible. In order to achieve this option, it has been chosen to use iris mechanism’s blade movements. Thus, the user still has the chance to be “online” by showing the memory photo/image or keep being mysterious by using it closed. In this book, the research about memory representations on jewelry in past and present are mentioned and based on the research part, design process of “Memories” Collection are explained in detail.