Hair is personal, and a unique marker of our DNA, and many of us have mothers who own a lock of hair taken from us after birth. Artemis can encapsulate a mat of hair or pet fur, a lock of hair or a full hair curl bonded to natural rock crystal or white sapphire, and mounted into you choice of keepsake jewellery from all of our range.
Curl-GemTM full curl also offers a choice of natural faceted amethyst, citrine, diamond, emerald, ruby or blue sapphire set centrally within the curl.
It is not limited to humans - we can work with horse hair, cat or dog hair, pet fur ... pretty mcuh any hair of fur you have. We send guides on how you collect materials to you in your pack or by email when you order. You can see our jewellery at our high street shop.
Keepsake jewellery that is NOT made from glass or resin Beautiful Affordable Eternal
How much hair do you need? This depends on what you would like: for MAT OF HAIR or FUR, we just need a small bag full; for lock of hair STRIPE, we need at least 5cm (2 inches) around 0.3cm (1/8th inch) wide when flat, lock of hair WATERFALL for small pendants we need at least 5cm (2 inches) around 1cm (1/3rd inch) wide when flat - if you choose a large pendant this should be at least 10cm (4 inches) around 1cm (1/3rd inch) wide, for lock of hair CRESCENT and HAIR CURL we need around 10cm (4 inches) which is around 1cm (1/3rd inch) wide
Is it OK to mix hair with other materials? Yes, samples can be mixed from any number of sources within the jewellery. Hair does not readily take up the tint, so we use a background colour which can incorporate your other material that do (ashes, sand, soil breastmilk). We can even use fabric as a background, and anything else that would be appropriate though these would not be tinted. Each material should be sent in a separate bag which we will provide.
Can everything have the same colour tints? Hair is best left natural but we can put a curl of hair, crescent or hair stripe on a background which incorporates the other material. The hair waterfall covers the entire backgound though parts of the background might show through, so you should still choose a colour if you want one - if you choose "natural" we will use pearl white as a background unless you have provided a background material (eg. ashes)
What happens to the material you don't use? We return all unused material(s) to you with your finished jewellery. The only exception is breast milk due to it's perishable nature
Can you take my sample? We would be pleased to help take ash samples, but you would have to travel to our premises or one of our partner's premises. Other samples you would need to take yourself. Breast milk needs our special collection pack for you to do in the comfort of your home.
How do I get my materials to you? If you can't visit us, we send you a pack which has all the information you need to collect samples and return them correctly to us in compliance with the couriers terms and conditions. This will safeguard your precious materials. Please see our shipping policy for international orders.
I live far away, what happens if I don't bring my materials when I visit you? That's no problem, if you decide to purchase while you are with us, we will give you one of our packs so you can send us your sample(s)
Using your hair to make the Curl-GemTM
We can make three types of hair/fur inclusions:
1. Mat of hair or fur
This method is suitable for short fur or hair, and takes the form of bonding the material inclusions straight to the gemstone. There are light mats and heavy mats (shown left and above) depending on how much hair you have and your requirements. The hair or fur can be mixed with other materials such as cremation ashes or breastmilk. It can be chosen with all of our jewellery ranges and any of our 12 signature colour tints, but we recommend that the colour you choose is suitably contrasting to the colour of the hair/fur provided.
2. Lock of hair
Lock of hair requires at least 2 inches of hair for best results (see the FAQs in the blue box right). We can arrange a lock of hair into various shapes depending on the piece of jewellery you choose. Our standard shapes are "Crescent", "Waterfall" (shown left) and "Stripe" of hair (shown above), which can be used in all our jewellery. Larger pendant can hold more complex patterns (please contact us about bespoke patterns). Again, it can be mixed with other inclusions and can be chosen with all of our jewellery in any of our signature colours.
3. Full Curl
Our Curl-GemTM full curl, shown left, above and below in the colour section, is for longer pieces of hair (minimum 3-4 inches long) and takes the form of a curl of hair bonded to rock crystal. It can only be ordered in certain pieces of jewellery which are large enough to carry it. Usually it is best on a solid background colour suitably contrasting with the colour of hair provided. Full curl can also incorporate a single natural faceted gemstone: amethyst, citrine, diamond, emerald, ruby or blue sapphire set centrally within the curl. See below for details.
Aurora and Teardrop pendants machine engraved with name or date
Each peice of jewellery can be selected in any precious metal and one of our 12 signature colour tints. We recommend you choose a colour to contrast with the colour of the hair/fur sample provided as appropriate - see our colour tint section, Phoenix-GemTM and Stones We Can Use below.
Additionally we can incorporate an engraving on most of our jewellery, and you might choose to personalize your piece with a sentiment, name, a special word or phrase. See our engraving page for more information.
We make our jewellery with the design and quality you would expect from a mainstream designer, providing a wide selection in our range with matching pieces at various price points which means there are several choices for you to select from.
The Curl-GemTM background can be tinted as follows:
Mat of hair and lock of hair can have a background of any of our signtaure colours, though we recommend that the colour you choose contrasts with the colour of the hair or fur sample provided.
Simply choose which type of Curl-GemTM you want (Mat, Lock or Full Curl) and your favourite colour, or the colour of your loved one's birthstone - there are many different birthstone charts, traditional, ancient, modern, zodiac, astrological, etc that allow for different stones to be chosen. We have compiled a table of the most common for you below
Artemis Curl-GemTM Full Hair Curl
The full hair curl, shown right on a pearl white background, can be chosen in any of our 12 signature background colours above with certain pendants which are large enough to encapsulate the curl. The smallest pendant that can be chosen for the full curl is our Classic 14mm Round pendant.
The full curl can be accented with a choice of six high quality natural faceted gemstones which add a sparkle to your keepsake in colours which encompass the full compliment of birthstones as follows:
We use Rock Crystal in all our pendants and earrings as standard. Our rings and charms use White Sapphire.
Rock Crystal Quartz is said to be crystal whose features can be more closely connected to the spiritual worlds than any other. A talisman of our most ancient ancestors, it is said that rock crystal emboldens its wearer, protects from bad dreams, removes stress, reduces headache and fever, helps to treat insomnia, simply place a piece of Rock Crystal under your pillow. Drinking from a crystal cup is said to protect from toothache. Rock Crystal also is said to help respiratory tract diseases in crystal healing therapies. Whatever the case for its alleged spiritual and healing properties, we use natural rock crystal to make Curl-GemTM Rock Crystal for its durability, adaptability and beauty in your pendant.
White Sapphire is a precious stone and one of the hardest stones used in jewellery. We use it in jewellery when the risk of damage is high, such as with rings and charms on bracelets. Sapphires were beleived to be the most powerful stones such that, in Greek and Roman legends, they thought the world was "set" on a giant blue sapphire and its reflection painted the sky blue. As it is a precious stone it carries a premium which is why we use lab grown white sapphire as standard, which is exactly the same as natural sapphire in composition and properties, but at an affordable cost. We can source natural sapphire and quote should you want us to. To make our rings and charms suitable for everyday wear, we use Curl-GemTM White Sapphire
Phoenix-GemTM
What is Phoenix-GemTM. We have developed a way of bonding the materials to metals too and some of our pendants can accept our Phoenix-Gem insets within them. At the moment we only have three pendants, our 20mm Classic Round, Portrait Oval and Cameo Oval pendants that we can inset Phoenix-Gem into, but we are working on other pieces specifically for Phoenix-Gem.
With Phoenix-Gem insets, you can choose a pattern or picture which allows you to partially see the bonded material, say cremation ashes or milk, both of which can still be tinted to the colours we have shown above. This give the effect of a picture in a frame in the pendant. Below is a rotating image of our oval pendants inset with Phoenix-Gem.
Click the image and move your mouse left to right to rotate
When you order one of our Phoenix-GemTM pendants, you will be directed to the options you can choose for the insets.