Carpe Diem Medallion Pendant

• 18K yellow gold, satin finish with distressing.
• Fancy-cut black diamond in skull shape, totaling 3 carats.
• Custom-cut white diamond baguettes, totaling 1.2 carats.
• White diamond accent in eyes.
• Ruby accent in mouth.
• 16" chain.
• Made in New York City.

Medallions are worn to invoke guidance, luck, or as a reminder of what you've overcome or where you're headed. This pendant combines the ancient jewelry concept of Memento Mori with modern-day gem-cutting technologies in the form of a black diamond cut into a skull shape. The whole design is filled with markers of the wearer’s life -- with white diamond baguettes pointing in all directions, like a turned compass. The Latin phrase “CARPE DIEM” is inscribed as a reminder to live life to the fullest each day, no matter which direction that takes you. Because I intended this medallion to speak to the wearer’s personal mantras, the inscription is written in Leonardo da Vinci-style mirror writing, so that the message is clearest when you're looking at your own reflection. This complex and meaningful design took my artisans over a year to create, with attention given to every detail, down to the tiny diamonds and ruby set beneath the black-diamond skull, and the distressed effect given to the gold.

Only one was ever made.