NY manufacturer buys two Heart jewelry lines

East Rochester, N.Y.--Fine jewelry manufacturer and retailer Richards & West Inc. has purchased the Carmel, Calif.-based Imprint on My Heart and Memory in My Heart jewelry lines for an undisclosed amount.

Jewelry designer Kathryn Albers founded Imprint on My Heart in 2005, a line of sterling silver, 14- and 18-karat gold and platinum jewelry emblazoned with actual imprints of thumbprints and baby footprints, as well as paw prints from pets. The impressions are cast into the metal, not engraved. 

Following the death of her grandfather, Albers expanded with Memory in My Heart, a line of jewelry engraved with an individual’s handwriting, as well as fingerprint cremation ash pendants--pendants that hold the cremated remains of a loved one--and memorial lockets.

Most of the Imprint and Memory jewelry already was being manufactured by Richards & West in their 15,000-square-foot, East Rochester, N.Y., facility. 

With the purchase, Richards & West brings the two brands in-house, expanding its reach in the keepsake and memorial jewelry market. The company already had Precious Vessel, a line of handcrafted pieces designed to hold keepsakes, such as a lock of hair, a flower petal or even the cremated remains of a loved one that the company introduced in 2014.

“(This purchase) truly rounded out the entire keepsake and memorial fine jewelry product lines,” Richards & West Vice President Gary Keim said. 

It also makes Richards & West the largest manufacturer and wholesaler of keepsake and memorial cremation fine jewelry in the country, according to the company. 

As part of the transition, Keim said Richards & West plans to do away with the Memory in My Heart brand and sell all of Albers’s jewelry under one brand, Imprint on My Heart. It will sell the imprint line to funeral homes and retail jewelers as well as direct to consumers online. 

Albers will handle the social media for Precious Vessel and Imprint on My Heart and remain based in Carmel. 

Richards & West was founded by jewelry designer John Keim in 1982. In addition to its manufacturing facility, the company has a retail showroom located in the same space in East Rochester.