Two of the smallest things the studio makes can both be worn, and they are about as different as two objects of the same size can be. One is an engraved sterling silver disc on a chain. The other is a small felted wool piece, worked from merino fibre with a needle, which some people wear on a cord and some people simply keep in a pocket. Choosing between them turns out to be a question about your hands rather than about your feelings.
What each one is
The Silver Memorial Pendant is a solid sterling silver disc, engraved with your pet’s face from a photograph. It travels on a chain, it is the one piece here designed to be worn rather than placed, and it starts at $219.
The wool side of the comparison is a small felted object — the Mini Keepsake is the one we make at that scale, from $329. It is built up fibre by fibre with a barbed needle until the wool locks into shape, so the surface stays soft and slightly uneven in a way that reads as fur rather than as a moulded shape.
Both are made to order from photographs, both take six to fourteen weeks, and both are small enough to close a hand around.
How they wear
Silver has weight. A disc that looks light in a photograph is noticeably heavy against the collarbone, and it is cold when it first touches skin and warms up over a minute or two. It hangs where the chain puts it and moves when you move. On a longer chain it swings; on a shorter one it sits still and you notice it when you bend forward.
Wool is the opposite in almost every respect. A felted piece that size weighs close to nothing, so a cord carrying one feels empty. It is warm rather than cold, it lies flat against skin or shirt without swinging, and most people stop being aware of it inside an hour. That is either the point or the disappointment, depending on what you were hoping for.
Against clothing they read differently as well. Silver against a dark jumper reads as jewellery, which is to say most people will not look twice at it. A small wool piece against the same jumper reads as a patch of colour, and it is noticeable at conversational distance in a way that silver is not. Against skin, the silver is bright and cool-toned while the wool is matte and warm, and there is no arguing with either.
What goes wrong with each
Friction is the first thing to think about with wool. Fibre that is rubbed against cloth felts tighter and tighter, and it can pill — small bobbles of loose fibre coming up on the surface. A wool piece worn under a coat, or against a jacket zip, gets that treatment every day. It will not fall apart, but it will change, and it changes fastest in the places that also happen to be hardest to see.
Direct sun is the other thing. Wool colour fades, so a piece worn outside through a summer on a light cord will dull over a season. Sterling silver scratches and tarnishes instead, both of which are ordinary rather than faults. Fine scratches come from keys, tabletops and other jewellery. Tarnish shows in the recesses of the engraving first, which some owners like because it deepens the lines, and some do not.
The pairing worth avoiding is a heavy disc on a very fine chain. The chain takes the whole weight at a single point, and a chain thin enough to break is a chain thin enough to lose the piece from. If the disc is going on a chain, let the chain be one that can carry it.
And both are the wrong choice for rough work — gardening, a workshop, the gym, anything wet. Silver scratches in a workshop and wool mats and holds grit. Take either one off first. Neither is fragile enough to be kept in a drawer, though, and a wearable piece kept in a box defeats the only thing it was made for.
Care, briefly
Silver: a silver polishing cloth takes tarnish off, and wearing the piece slows tarnish down, because handling it does some of the work. Mild soap and water are fine if it needs more, then dry it properly. Heavy polishing repeated over years will soften the engraving, so polish when it needs it rather than to a schedule.
Wool: keep it out of direct sunlight, dust it with a soft brush rather than a cloth, and do not wash it. If it gets damp, let it dry at room temperature, away from a radiator.
There is more on both materials on the care guide, including what to do if a wool piece is knocked out of shape.
The deciding question
This is the one that settles it for most people. Do you want to touch it with your fingers, or do you only want to know that it is there?
If you fiddle — turn a ring, worry a bracelet, reach for something in a pocket while thinking — silver is the better answer. It has an edge to run a thumb across, it has a front and a back, and it responds to being handled. If what you want is a soft thing to press, something that gives slightly under a thumb, wool does that and silver cannot.
Weight is the other half of the same question. Some people want to feel the piece arrive when they stand up, and find that the heaviness is most of what makes it real. Others find a swinging disc irritating within a week and stop wearing it, which is the worst outcome available. If you already know which of those you are with the jewellery you own, you have your answer.
If the honest answer is that you want to forget it for most of the day and then notice it at four in the afternoon, either will do that. Silver will simply interrupt more often on the way there, because you can feel it.
If you are still between the two
The Silver Memorial Pendant is the one for somebody who wants the piece on their body — legible to themselves, unremarkable to everybody else. It is from $219, made to order, and it begins with a single clear photograph.
It and the wool piece both take six to fourteen weeks, and standard shipping adds ten to fifteen business days after that. If you would rather see the rest of the range before deciding, the shop is arranged by material.
One letter a month
Occasional notes from the studio: new pieces, what we are working on, and the questions customers ask most. No offers, and you can leave at any time.
