Eske Storm Dragon Claw for Sue

In the past the posts that have marked the 100s have seen me looking at the links between jewellery and something more meaningful than just the "ooh shiny" part of enjoying jewellery.  I've decided to carry on the tradition for Post No. 300.

Back in 1992, I bumped into my Uncle who, being only 4 years older than me and growing up only a few doors down, has always been more like an older brother to me than a uncle.

I was really taken with the lady he was sat next to.  Spiky blond hair, nails you could cut steak with and she was wearing the most incredible silver jewellery.  

Yes, my ooh shiny habit has been with me for many years!

Sue was sassy, warm, interesting, had a twinkle in her eye and a beautiful Welsh accent.

When she went to the ladies, I leant to one side and in a conspiratorial whisper said "I really like your new girlfriend" shortly followed by "Whatever you do, do not let this one go!".  They had such a spark between them.

What I didn't know, is that they weren't a couple, they had literally just met.

I *really* didn't believe this, as if Disney had drawn animations around them - it would have been all cupids shooting arrows, animals bounding around and big hearts appearing like bubbles.  I've never actually seen two people fall in love in quite such glorious technicolour.

Over the years we've often spoken about that night and told that story because I was *so* disbelieving that they weren't already a couple.

From that point on they became inseparable and spent a very fantastic 22 years together, travelling, emigrating, travelling and generally just being there for each other.  I'd always described them to friends who'd not met them, as... if the world were to fall apart, and they were the last two humans on the planet, as long as they had each other they would be fine.

And then the world did fall apart, only they weren't the last two humans left.  Sadly Sue died very unexpectedly last October and left the rest of us behind in shock.

In the days that followed we spent a lot of time catching up in the UK; we talked about life back then, now and in the future and I was asked to choose myself a piece of jewellery in memory of Sue.

I've been thinking long and hard about this gift.  The plan was to buy a bead, however I couldn't quite find anything that really spoke to me enough with regard to Sue - plus I change my bracelets around quite often and didn't want something to be sitting in my jewellery box between bracelets.

Finally I turned away from the bigger brands and went back to more artisan designers and decided on a piece by Eske Storm.  The female dragon claw was a perfect fit for what I was looking for.

I'm currently wearing this on a Trollbeads Leather Necklace but expect to see this appear on bracelets and bangles in the future!

My Eske Storm Dragon Claw for Sue

My gift covered more than just the claw... I wasn't sure what to do with the rest until I saw Ohm's Rawr release, Sue will now also be remembered by helping to fund some dinosaur skulls in silver... Given that she once bought an actual human glass eye as a ring... I think she would have approved of my choices.

Have you ever bought jewellery in memory of someone?
How did you choose what to pick?