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We make it our mission to champion the many different forms that love stories can take. This can include the diversity of couples themselves, and nontraditional dual proposals, but it can also encompass stories of self-love. We wanted to celebrate local customer Emma, and share how she was inspired to commemorate life and career milestones with fine jewelry and how she chose to imbue her own intentions into each piece.
Emma is in her early 30’s and has lived with her husband in Seattle for two and a half years. They made the move from the UK when she got a new job offer across the pond. Emma has said that “It was a big change for us, particularly with the pandemic starting a few months after we arrived. We love the PNW though. The mountains! The green! The water! It’s so beautiful and we’ve enjoyed making it our home.” What is Emma’s job that brought her across the world? She works in video games, and has worked in the industry for the last ten years.
“I have been playing video games since before I could write, but had never considered you could make a living in their development. I ended up falling in love with an industry that’s literally about creating fun. There’s so much creativity, passion and talent in the people who make games… It’s a massively varied job and I’m learning all the time. I’m so fortunate to love what I do.”
We went on to ask Emma a few more questions about her self-purchased fine jewelry and what motivated her to pick Valerie Madison. Read on below for our full spotlight.
What about your personal/professional milestone(s) would you like to share with us? We'd love to be able to celebrate it with you, and learn more about your own #lovestoriesingold - we're big cheerleaders for love stories encompassing not only romance, but also ambition, friendships, and family and are honored to play a role in each of these stories.
I’ve got a couple of custom rings from VM now and both are to commemorate different moments in my life. The first is a beautiful custom Zara ring with a lavender grey spinel and rose gold band. My husband and I had just sold our house back in the UK and I used some of the proceeds to buy the ring. I loved that home and was heartbroken to sell it, but it didn’t make sense to keep it when we moved. So my Zara is a keepsake that reminds me of that home and the joy we had there. So the love story there is for our home and the memories we have of it.
My most recent purchase is a beautiful blue sapphire Selena. This time it was to mark the launch of a major game for our studio. It was the project that I was initially hired to launch, the title that brought me halfway around the world and changed my life. My life here has such better work/life balance, I’m happier, healthier, calmer and have found a real family in the people I work with. So seeing this project launch and be so successful felt like the end of a really significant chapter in my life. I considered how I could mark it and I immediately thought of VM. When the game launched, it really felt like an achievement and a milestone in this new life we’ve built here. Now I can wear a representation of this chapter of my life, and it’s encapsulated in something so beautiful.
Celebrating your own achievements is a skill to practice to commemorate your successes, what led you to choose fine jewelry to do so?
I see others make celebratory purchases of things that won’t last, like tech. A new phone or laptop would be great, but it’ll be outdated or worn out in a few years. I’ve loved commemorating these moments with a piece of beautiful jewelry as it’s an investment in something that I can wear for the rest of my life and pass through the family. When my employer gave us all a small bonus to thank us for our efforts through the pandemic, I bought the gold rolling rings, which are not only beautiful but I can play with them to ease my anxiety. When my parents were finally able to visit, I got an eternity bracelet whilst they were here to mark being reunited after more than two years apart.
What are you looking forward to celebrating this year?
So many things! Travel between the US and the UK has opened up again so we’re looking forward to getting to show off our life here to family and friends. My sister arrives in just a few days – and I’m surprising her with a VM birthstone ring, we were born in the same month. Two of my best friends are expecting babies, another close friend is getting married. My parents are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and my husband and I like to use our anniversary each year to indulge. I’m also hoping to celebrate my birthday by finally making a pilgrimage to Nashville, a longstanding dream of mine as a country music fan.
"Treating yourself" has become popular as a form of self-care. How else do you practice self-care?
As we’ve all become more thoughtful about self-care with the last couple of years of stresses and strains, I’ve really thought about what self-care looks like for me. I think it’s often marketed to women as just manicures and face masks. I certainly do both those things regularly, and love them! But I’ve also focused on things like setting boundaries with others to ensure I have time and energy for myself, therapy in times of anxiety, meditation apps to help with mindfulness and a healthy bedtime routine. Treating myself is definitely another facet though!
