With the average cost of a "traditional" funeral topping $7,000 excluding cemetery costs and a headstone, it's no wonder half of the population is opting for a lower-cost cremation instead. With the rise in popularity of cremation, we have also seen a rise in the number of accessories that can accompany it. Aside from being a more affordable option, cremation offers a great deal of flexibility for families to personalize a ceremony, remember their loved one, and honor them in a fitting fashion.
See the article Top 5 Creative Ways to Spread Cremains for additional inspiration.
Cremation jewelry, in particular, has become a popular choice for many to store a token amount of their loved one's ashes. There seems to be an endless number of cremation jewelry sites who offer an abundance of choices in quality, design, materials, and price. Including a small portion of the ashes in a piece of jewelry gives the wearer the opportunity to keep them close to heart, and hand, on a day to day basis.
What Is Cremation Jewelry
Cremation Jewelry is jewelry that incorporates a small portion of the cremated remains of a loved one in a piece of jewelry. Sometimes the ashes are held in a separate chamber, like with jewelry company Lee Alexander & Co, while other times it is incorporated in the materials that make up the ring, as with Grateful Glass. Cremation jewelry is available in many forms including pendants, rings, bracelets, necklaces, and lockets like you can find from Valyria Jewelry.
Cremation Jewelry from Around the Web:
Valyria Jewelry
Valyria Cremation Jewelry is one of the largest stainless steel jewelry manufactures and distributors. They have beautiful cremation products that include cremation jewelry, essential oil lockets, necklaces, accessories, and other fashion jewelry.
Grateful Glass
Grateful Glass incorporates ashes directly into hand-blown glass products. This company offers unique products ranging from pendants to cuffs as well as the ability to customize almost any product. “We take a small amount of cremation ashes and permanently suspend them within layers of optically pure glass.”
Lee Alexander & Co
Lee Alexander & Co creates high-end cremation jewelry using a "remembrance pod" to store the ashes and incorporate them in the design. Their jewelry is centered around precious stones and metals. They source their materials in a socially responsible way while selecting materials with the best possible quality.
"Our hope is that our jewelry will help others through the grieving process, bringing a renewed sense of joy into each customer’s life."
After you place an order for a custom piece of cremation jewelry, you send them a small portion of the ashes. "The ashes or other relic materials provided by our customers are delicately placed within the Remembrance Pod, which is permanently and hermetically sealed and incorporated into a Lee Alexander & Co. ring or pendant, ensuring the ashes will be well kept within the jewelry forever."
Etsy & Amazon
Another place to find crafty cremation jewelry, often at lower prices, is Etsy and Amazon. Etsy designers offer many different styles of jewelry at lower costs with a variety of designs. On Amazon, you have access to independent and incorporated designers and providers of cremation jewelry from all over the world. Etsy is a great place to find more unique pieces of jewelry or even commission customs ones that won't break the bank while Amazon will ensure the safe and timely arrival of your purchase, especially if you have Amazon Prime.
Cremation Solutions
Cremation Solutions is another site that offers a wide array of cremation products. From urns in every shape, size and style imaginable to cremation jewelry made from ash and dichroic glass, crystal, metal and more. The most noteworthy would be their cremation diamond collection, made from the carbon found in cremated remains, to their acclaimed pandora-style collection with gold and silver beads in all styles with small chambers you may fill with the remains of your loved ones.
Memorials.com
Memorials.com offers a wide variety of inexpensive jewelry & memorial products such as urns, headstones, graves, caskets, statues, and cremation art. Their cremation jewelry allows you to insert the ashes into the jewelry yourself, giving the jewelry a more personal feel, starting at just $19.95.