The Story Behind Say it on a Ring®
Say it on a Ring® continues to be one of our top sellers and is the product that catapulted us to where we are today. These rings have made us closer to our customers through the personalized messages. We know each one we handcraft has precious meaning to its future owner. It’s no different for the very first set of rings that Heidi made, which were for herself.
The first Say it on a Ring®
In November of 2014, after taking a four year break from jewelry to focus on her family, Heidi decided to step back into her home studio. Utilizing scrap materials that remained in the untouched room, she began to play around with new designs. Twisting, molding, hammering, soldering, and stamping. She utilized a technique of combining stamping and soldering, something she hadn’t tried before. Previously she had always designed jewelry using one technique at a time.
“I just figured I was really in there to dabble and fulfill some creative needs so why not try something new.”
When thinking about what to put on the design, she knew she wanted it to be something that would be timeless for her. She immediately thought about her family and the reason she took a break from her jewelry business in the first place – her children. She intricately hand stamped their names into the tiny fine silver pieces. When looking down at her newly crafted rings she fell in love. Her husband Sean also loved them, but even more he loved that Heidi was back in the studio with that look on her face again. A look that artisans get when they’ve just created a piece of art that they are truly proud of. For Heidi, it was also a look of “I’m back!”
So how did they get so popular?
Heidi’s design became popular in her circle of friends quickly thanks to social media. Heidi had made a set for a neighbor who shared a picture on Facebook. One friend commented, then another shared the picture, more comments, more shares and soon requests from close friends for their own set of personalized rings. Soon after this Facebook swirl of activity, Heidi decided to create a small website and dip her toe back into the online jewelry business. Next thing you know, another friend pinned a picture from that website to Pinterest which quickly went viral resulting in a huge spike in orders…which resulted in more people posting pictures of their rings to social media…which resulted in more spikes in orders. Combine this viral attention with an upcoming 2014 Mother’s Day and voila…we grew from Heidi in her home to a downtown studio in Muncie, Indiana employing over 20 artisans hand crafting personalized jewelry and limited editions every day.
The evolution of Say It on a Ring®
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that these rings are so much more than pieces of jewelry. They have deep meaning and each and every ring we make has its own unique story. The rings have far surpassed the original concept of containing your children’s names. We have made rings that have spiritual reminders on them, armed forces enlistment dates, school names and mascots, nicknames, personal mantras, anniversary dates, words to live by, and so much more. Some rings represent joyous times and other rings represent hardships and stories of triumph. Either way, the stories and personal meaning behind each set is something we cherish every single day.
Today’s Say it on a Ring™ is slightly different than the original thanks to the amazing feedback we receive on a regular basis from our customers. Say it on a Ring™ in combination with the creative minds of our artisans has resulted in many new personalized jewelry designs such as, Say it on a Ring® Gold, Say it on a Bangle™, Say it on a Cluster™ Necklace, Say it on Bracelet™, Say it on a Dome™ Ring, and many many more.
#heidijhale
We love when our customers show us their rings. It reminds us that we are able to provide something truly special and that means a great deal to us. Thank you for sharing those pictures. Keep them coming and use the hashtag #heidijhale on social media so we can find them.
