Memento mori — cross made of oxidized silver and yellow gold with a garnet

Death exists to remind us that life takes place before it, not after it.

This is everything that I had on the table: silver, a little gold and a garnet. I woke up on a rainy October morning and couldn’t quite see the sunny side of anything. Traffic on the way to the shop had me upset. The extra noises of the shop itself were irritating. I was especially annoyed by the table, on which there was so little material, but I had a great desire to do something with it. On any other day, I would take a luxurious metal (perhaps palladium gold), a diamond (most likely a transparent one) and make a marvellous wedding ring. But it wasn’t that sort of day.

On days like that, you work with what you have: circumstances, feelings, emotions and anything else that seems completely untimely. On days like that day, you look life in the face and respect death. That’s when you find a simple joy in the fact that all circumstances are timely, all feelings are needed, and all the necessary materials are already in place.

I swear to you that I have never seen silver as beautiful as this. I allowed it to take the shape it wanted and was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. I then decided to take some gold and make a frame out of it, in which I would later place my garnet. My little work table was eventually enveloped by a huge love for everything that had happened there over the course of several hours of work.

The «Memento Mori» cross can be a sacred ornament to anyone. After all, each of us has days when everything is «wrong,» but only those who find the strength to remember their own value and make their lives reflect that value can overcome these feelings. I did this for myself, first and foremost. And then, I did it for others.