Fingerprint Lockets
by Liv White.
(Cabooltue, Queensland Australia)
I’m a qualified jeweler and for twenty years I’ve made mainstream fine jewellery. You know the usual things that is made with diamonds and gold.
In 2006 our youngest child was born with a very rare heart disease which should have taken his life but after 3 months we were able to bring him home. My son’s heart was fixed but mine was broken and as scared as his. The emotions of not being able to hold him or touch him, of being told daily that he would die had taken it’s toll.
In 2008 he had open heart surgery for the second time. this time it wasn’t a dramatic but still emotionally draining and brought back some very bad memories.
It was after this that I saw the pmc fingerprint jewellery and loved the concept.
But as a qualified jeweler I could see it’s limitations so I embarked on finding a way to make fingerprint jewellery where you could guarantee a better quality print, that would allowed me to be able to creative with it and most importantly available in a kit foam so it could be keep in ICU wards in hospitals and shipped to anywhere in the world.
It’s been just over a year now since I start making fingerprint jewellery full time and I’m learning heaps still!
I designed this particular pendant after talking to parents who had lost their child and I realized that a number of them loved the idea of the fingerprint jewellery but didn’t like to literally hold their grief on their chest for all the world to see.
This way they can wear it, look and touch it still but keep it personal and in a special place. So far I’ve made 3 designs, a plain oval, an oval with a silver angel wing. and one with a gold angel wing.
I don’t make the wings but everything else is done from scratch and the inside of the lid can be stamped with a message.
These are so special to me and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them.
Liv White
Forever Inspired
Forever Inspired on Etsy
Comments:
Lovely
by: Ana
Liv this is such a lovely idea and wonderful designs. I just love everything about it. Hope you and your son are well.
what is jewelry piece made out of?
by: Lynn W
So are you casting these items using sterling silver, as opposed to using PMC? Or are you using the silicone molds to press the PMC into? Wouldn’t they then be the fingerprint in reverse? We just had this exact discussion in our jewelry making class last night.
Unutterably sweet!!
by: Instead HCJ
These are adorable!!
It’s Sterling Silver
by: Anonymous
Thank you Ladies. Lyn, sorry I forgot to write want they were made from. Yes, it’s sterling silver. The process is pretty long but I use a 2 part putty that gets mix together and the finger is pressed into.
Then I make a mold of the finger from that impression( very Mythbusterish). I then use that mold to impress into a casting wax and then the wax is cast up, that means I can cast in any metal. The yellow wings are gold and diamonds and is simply a charm that gets soldered on top.
Cheers Liv
happy customer
by: Michelle
I have one of Liv’s other pieces, a heart shaped pendant with my daughter’s fingerprint impression. I searched the net in the wee small hours, the day after my daughter died (unexpectedly) and found Liv’s site. I had heard of PMC fingerprint jewellery but I am a rose gold girl and would not settle for anything else. Liv was so easy to work with via emails & post. <3. I have not taken my pendant off since it arrived & I look at it, caressing the tiny fingerprint several times per day. Thank you Liv.
