Emily Ratajkowski’s name necklace for son Sylvester is sparking a personalised jewellery trend: show your true love with a child’s thumbprint, or coded messages in hieroglyphs or Morse code

Dec 20 , 2023

Model Emily Ratajkowski wears a necklace spelling out her son’s name – as well as a “mama” necklace. Whether they feature a thumbprint, hieroglyphs or Morse code, super-personalised pieces make jewellery even more meaningful to the wearer. Photos: Handouts

It goes without saying that jewellery is more often than not a sentimental gift or purchase: a sign of love or devotion, or bought to commemorate a significant milestone. But how about when you want to take the gesture up a notch?

Enter super-personalised jewellery.

Of course this, too, is nothing new. In the Victorian era, jewellery made with locks of hair taken from a beloved was a treasured gift for occasions such as a betrothal or the birth of a baby, as well as to provide comfort to the bereaved. Upon the birth of their first child, Prince Albert presented Queen Victoria with a bracelet with a heart-shaped locket containing a lock of the baby’s hair. The bracelet would eventually hold nine lockets: one for each of the couple’s children.

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Meanwhile, who could forget then-married couple Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton each wearing a vial around their neck containing the other’s blood?

Emily Ratajkowski wears a necklace with her son’s name, Sylvester

If this seems a little much, there are plenty of other ways to imbue your jewellery with some additional meaning. Take model Emily Ratajkowski, who was recently snapped wearing a pendant with her son’s face on it, layering it with another necklace spelling out the child’s name, Sylvester.

Australian jewellery brand Linden Cook’s Impression necklaces – made using a technique known as lost-wax casting – turn the thumbprint of a loved one into a sweet memento. The Impression collection was started with the aim of creating “timeless, handmade and one-off pieces of jewellery”, explains the brand’s managing director and co-founder, Georgie Amad.

A Linden Cook Impression pendant, featuring a thumbprint of the owner’s loved one

“We also wanted to build a collection that held genuine sentimental value for our customers. I think our customers love these pieces as they are incredibly personal and allow them to hold their most special memories and people close to them.”

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Clever too are British-Italian jeweller Sarah Ysabel Narici’s Loverglyph rings for her Dyne label. Each one is crafted with coded secrets, codes and symbols that are of personal significance to the client.

A House of K’dor bracelet, designed with a personalised message in Morse code

Zena K’dor, creative director at the jewellery brand House of K’dor, says its popular Morse Code jewellery pieces – including earrings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings, all handcrafted in 18k gold – which use diamonds to spell out a special message in Morse code, exemplify what she thinks of as jewellery’s purpose.

“Morse Code jewellery is an invitation for our guests to convey a message … that is held closest to their hearts. It’s personal, symbolic, emotional, and truly is the ultimate form of luxury,” she says.

Celebrity style

Queen Victoria had a bracelet with nine lockets containing strands of hair from each of her nine children – and who can forget Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton’s ‘romantic’ vials of blood?
Today, Linden Cook’s Impression necklaces feature a loved one’s thumbprint, House of K’dor has its Morse Code collection, while Dyne’s Loverglyph rings translate personal sentiments into hieroglyphs