Two wedding rings make a unique bracelet

For years I kept two rings in my drawer: they were my parent’s wedding rings. After my father died, my mother had a jeweller adapt my fathers ring so she could wear it next to her own wedding ring. After she passed away, I put the rings away in a drawer, but with the intention to someday rework them into a “commemorative” accessory. A few months ago, I got my inspiration.

As the rings were the same size, I figured they could be used as a bracelet clasp, it would be a very minimalistic bracelet. And the new owner this “remembrance-bracelet”? This had to be my niece! She was the very first grandchild of my parents and also the only grandchild born while my father was still alive. As first grandchild, she always had a special relationship with my mother.

Now that I had a clear image of what I wanted to create and who it would be for, it was easy to create the bracelet. I used beautiful dark brown vegetable tanned leather. This leather was supple, thick and strong and would age beautifully. When I inspected the rings more closely, I noticed that only my fathers name was enscribed in one ring, the other ring was blank.  It puzzled me, but my husband remembered that my father lost his wedding ring at one point. My father had bought another one, but forgot to redo the inscription of my mother’s name. It reminded me of another lost wedding ring, one of our own (read that story below).

My niece is thrilled with her new remembrance bracelet, and sent me some photos for this blog.

Would you like to hear the story of my own wedding rings? Read on!

When I was a medical student, I washed my hands a great many times during the day. In the years during my residency I stopped wearing rings and stored my wedding ring in a jewellery box.
Right around the same time my husband lost his wedding ring (or so he thought). It was a pity, but not a big deal, since I never wore my ring anyway.  Then one day we sold our car and before handing it over we gave the interior an extensive last scrub. We removed the mats and… there was his ring! Neatly tucked away, deep down, under two layers of mats.
My husband, those days an enthusiastic surfer, used to leave his ring in the car before hitting the waves. We still have the two rings, my daughter keeps them safe in a tiny box. Maybe some day I should also make a bracelet with these rings! 😍