Who tried it: Rennie Dyball, Senior Editor, @renniedyball
What is it: Theresa Caputo, star of TLC’s Long Island Medium and a best-selling author, has expanded her empire to the Theresa Caputo Collection, which features custom-made charm necklaces from handwriting, drawings and more.
Why I did it: For some time, I’ve thought about trying to turn a special handwritten note into a piece of jewelry, but didn’t know a jeweler who could do it or where I’d even find him or her. Leave it to the Long Island Medium to practically read my mind on this one, right?
Level of difficulty: 0 (You take a photo, send it in, pay for the piece and it arrives in the mail within a couple weeks. The only difficult decisions are what size to order your charm and chain, and sterling silver vs. gold overlay)
Courtesy Rennie Dyball
You know that list you have — either scribbled on paper or just taking up space your head — of things you’d really like to do but can never seem to find the time? Making a necklace out of a personal handwritten note was one of mine. I’m not sure it would have happened anytime soon if it weren’t for a Facebook post I came across while scanning my feed. It was almost too good to be true: Theresa Caputo is now making exactly this type of jewelry.
“After my Gram passed away I found comfort in reading cards that she sent me,” Caputo says on her website. “I thought it would be so nice to take her handwriting and make a necklace that I could wear forever and I wanted you to be able to do that too!”
I’ve interviewed Caputo a couple of times, and she has told me she doesn’t believe in coincidences. So I think it’s pretty fitting that, instead of finding this jeweler I’d always meant to look for, the Long Island Medium‘s new line found me.
The process was a breeze. I took a photo of the handwriting I wanted to be made into a charm along with a question: Since the letters weren’t connected, cursive-style, how would they look in the finished product? In return, I got an emailed rendering of what my charm would look like and I was thrilled with the result. And I’m even happier with the final product: Caputo (who teamed with fine jewelry manufacturer Jeweled Moments for her line) is able to replicate the handwriting exactly, down to every little swirl and pen mark, to make a piece of jewelry that’s totally one of a kind and about as sentimental as you can get.
In addition to the custom pieces, Caputo offers “Inspired by Theresa” heart necklaces as well that can be found here.
Custom made handwriting charms start at $175, and custom pet charms (designed from photos) and custom drawing charms start at $115.
Verdict: If you want a completely custom, personal piece of jewelry without a totally exorbitant price tag, Jeweled Moments is a great bet. Psychic readings are, unfortunately, not included.
Courtesy Rennie Dyball
