I am a sucker for any jewelry with the potential to commemorate my children, and the moment I saw designer Jennifer House’s necklace featuring a framed child’s drawing, I basically melted into a puddle. Jewelry is, at its best, a meaningful keepsake, and this one piece packed all the feels in a shiny silver little package. Be still my mama heart!
House’s eponymous brand, which was formerly called Origin 31, preserves precious items like kids’ art and photographs within pieces of jewelry. The concept of a wearable photo isn’t new, but it’s also not as common as one might expect. Jennifer House’s Framed collection offers such an item—and one of these beautiful versions has found a place on my (always growing) wish list.
Photos are some of the most precious things we can possess. A moment frozen in time, capturing the way we felt right then and there, what we could smell, what we could see. There’s no better memory jogger than a photo (or video clip) of a time gone by.
We hang our memories on our walls, lay them out in photo albums or scrapbooks, and compile thousands of them online somewhere, in a cloud or on a hard drive. These are all wonderful ways to save our photos, and with the Framed collection, we can also consider using jewelry to do so.
“Too often photos get stored on computers, out of sight, or tucked into albums to shield them from fading. Children’s sketches on the fridge, meanwhile, bear the smudges of wandering little hand,” says House. “But what if these moments could be immortalized, protected, and cherished every day, proudly on display?”
The jeweler offers a number of options for commemorating something special. Frame your dog in brightly colored enamel; immortalize its paw print on a coin-style charm; use a photo of your or a loved one’s iris for a truly personalized evil eye amulet; take inspiration from early-19th-century lover’s eye jewels with a photo of an eye (or lips) on a pendant.
The designer offers custom projects, too. “One newly married client wanted to wear flowers from her bouquet,” House tells JCK. “I took one of my signature circle frames and reimagined it, creating a deeper design to preserve the delicate beauty of her forget-me-not flowers. By carefully drying the blooms to maintain their stunning 3D form and encasing them in resin, I transformed her bouquet into a breathtaking floral keepsake she could cherish forever.”
The House brand’s design DNA—heavily infused with nostalgia and sentimentality—has remained the same even though the designer gave her company a new name. “The name change to Jennifer House reflects a shift toward a more personal, inviting, and relatable brand identity,” House says. “It allows me to better connect with my audience by evoking warmth, familiarity, and authenticity.
“The change also aligns with my future goals to create a cohesive brand experience that resonates with modern consumers while staying true to my roots, I’m already noticing positive results of my efforts.”
Top: Child’s drawing necklace in sterling silver and enamel, $718; Jennifer House
- Subscribe to the JCK News Daily
- Subscribe to the JCK Special Report
- Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
- Follow JCK on X: @jckmagazine
- Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
