Increase in Cremation Jewelry and Art Reflects Changing Practices

Cremains can be incorporated into beautiful art glass items.

Laying a loved one to rest in a cemetery can carry a finality that some people find depressing —  perhaps one reason more people today are moving away from interment or entombment, and toward creative ways to celebrate and honor cremated remains. That means demand has grown for keepsakes that incorporate cremains. Family members are embracing ways to always feel close to their loved one, be it small wearable pieces or larger works of art bearing the name, likeness or an actual physical artifact of the deceased.

More Americans Opting for Cremation

Traditionally, a body lies in repose for visitation and is then interred or entombed in a family plot or mausoleum, where family members could visit and tend the grave. But as people have become increasingly mobile and families more dispersed, more people opt for cremation, which allows remains to be shared among family members or scattered in a place with pleasant memories.

The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) noted in its 2023 Cremation and Burial Report that the cremation rate is expected to increase in the United States from 61% in 2023 to 81% by 2045.

NFDA representative Camelia L. Clarke said in a interview with SevenPonds, “It’s really been a sea shift in terms of preferences in disposition. … Families are spread out across the country. …The compromise is that if [they’re] all spread out as a family, when they cremate, they’re able to get that communal support.”

Memorial Jewelry

Close By Me Jewelry uses a patented process to incorporate cremains into jewelry pieces.

Cremation jewelry include pieces in which solidified ashes become the visible stone, hollow pieces into which a pinch of ashes or a lock of hair is sealed, and lab-created diamonds into which ashes are incorporated but become invisible.

Gina Murphy, founder of Close By Me jewelry, developed a patented method for mixing ashes with high-grade jewelry resin to create a durable, moldable solid. This allows her to create jewelry that incorporates the ashes as the central focus of the piece.

“I pride myself in it not looking like cremated remains — it looks like something you’d wear all the time,” Murphy told SevenPonds.

Hollow cremation jewelry is available in all shapes, sizes and price ranges from a number of companies in materials ranging from stainless steel to white gold. One can buy pendants, bracelets, rings and even cufflinks that incorporate cremated remains.

“What we’re finding is that cremation jewelry supports their grief journey — you can transform that grief in that pivotal moment. It bridges the past with the present and now, ‘I can take you with me wherever I go,’” said NFDA’s Clarke.

Memorial Art

Artful Ashes incorporates cremains into handblown art glass keepsakes.

Some families have beautiful pieces of art made to display in their homes Artful Ashes takes a tablespoon of ashes and swirls them into molten glass, to create a one-of-a-kind piece of handblown glass art in which the infused ashes are visible as part of the glass itself.

“There’s something magical about the glass,” said Artful Ashes founder Greg Dale in an interview. “It’s a beautiful, tangible thing that lasts forever and can become a family heirloom. People find going to a cemetery depressing, and a traditional urn on the mantel reminds them of their loss, but the glass makes them smile and remember the good times with that person. When we started 13 years ago, we were the only one. Now there are many companies making cremation art.”

From subtle jewelry to statement pieces, cremation art is a sign of how people are choosing to keep their loved ones close, in their memories and lives.