Last year, just 5 weeks after my son was born, my maternal grandmother passed away. She was my last living grandparent and one of the most important figures in my life. A few months later, I was home in Maine and stumbled on her jewelry box. Her pieces were costume jewelry, with no value beyond sentimental, but it was fun to look through again. It brought back memories of being awed by her overflowing jewelry box as a young girl and wishing for my own when I was older (if only my 8 year old self could see my jewelry collection now!).
As I was combing through I was struck with the idea to create a collection inspired by her pieces. It occurred to me that over the years so many customers have asked if we can replace the posts of their heirloom earrings so that they would be able to wear them comfortably. I recognized that so many of you have probably had parallel experiences to me, looking through loved ones' costume jewelry and being flooded with warmth and joy and wanting to hold on to those bittersweet memories.
It clicked that we could create a collection that married that feeling of vintage jewelry with our clean and modern materials. Vintage costume jewelry is often made with brass, a material that tarnishes and causes allergies. Bringing those pieces to the modern era with lightweight, non-allergenic titanium was challenging but completely worth the effort.
Last year, we reached out to you to ask for inspiration and we loved what you sent back. Some of you may be happy to see inspiration from your own loved ones peeking through this collection. I took many loose references from my inspiration photos (pearls, turquoise, pendants) and some exact (I needed to recreate the pearl studs seen below to a tee). I hoped to capture a feeling of nostalgia with this collection and I believe we did.
To me personally, this is the most important collection that we have ever done. We spent a lot of time thinking of the best way we could possibly amplify this to the world. We wanted to collaborate with someone who could bring this collection to life in a way that it truly deserves. Venita Aspen was one of the first people that came to mind because of her elegance and impeccable style. She embodies the vintage modern style that we hoped to capture with this collection. We took a chance reaching out to her and thankfully she said yes! We worked closely with Venita to design four pieces that felt special to her and collaborated with her on a special shoot that you can preview here on the Heirloom x Venita page.
We’ve been working on this collection behind the scenes for a year now and I am so happy that it is finally being released to the world. We may not say it enough, but you are our inspiration every single day at Tini Lux. We hope that this collection means as much to you as it does to us. Thank you for being a part of this collection from its inception. I am most excited about the Margaret Necklace, a heart shaped locket that can hold two photos. I have been wearing mine every day with photos of my husband and son inside. I would love to see your lockets and the images you choose to put inside. If you post it on instagram please tag me @jackie_burke, it would mean the world to me.
xoxo
Jackie
