Testimonials

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  Niesje: It helps me enormously

  ‘Six months after my father died, my mother passed away. After my father’s death, I found it difficult to be in company. I was very sad, but it’s difficult to say to people you don’t know very well: I don’t want to take part for a while because I’m grieving. After my mother passed away, good friends gave me the mourning jewellery of Helena van Essen. What a special gift!

  Now I had something tangible from my parents with me: alternately I used a button from my father and my mother. The first few months I wore it day and night, so to speak. It helped, and still helps, enormously in coping with grief. Because of the striking design, the beautiful stone with an ordinary button on it makes people curious and they ask questions. The button makes it easier to explain that you are in mourning. And that, of course, is exactly what it’s meant for.’

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  Maureen: Guardian Angel

  ‘The Mourning Button allows me to honour and commemorate my father in a subtle way but it is also a source of comfort in difficult times. It’s like I have a ‘guardian angel’ who watches over me. The stone has a high emotional value for me and so I don’t always feel the need to wear it. I always make a very deliberate choice therefore as to whether or not I will pin it on. parlAmore is so much more than just another beautiful piece of jewellery. ’

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  Erik: Meditative moment

  ‘My Mourning Button has a permanent place on the mantelpiece in my living room. Often when I enter the room and it catches my eye, I pause to think about all those family members and friends who are no longer with us. A brief meditative moment. Sometimes I also pick it up to hold it for a moment, because I can enjoy the simple, elegant shape of the gemstone. So for me, the Mourning Button is a precious possession in more ways than one.’

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  Franscé: No small talk

  ‘When I saw the Mourning Button for the first time, I immediately got enthusiastic. After my father – we were two of a kind – died in an accident, I felt an enormous cold. Nowadays whenever I wear my parlAmore with a button of his favourite pyjamas, I can feel his warmth come back a little into my body. Recently someone recognised my special mourning sign. At once there was room for a serious conversation because you know that the other person is in mourning and doesn’t fancy small talk. It’s an enormous advantage of the Mourning Button: no explanations are needed. It is good as it is and that is very pleasant indeed.

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  Els: Support

  ‘When I saw this beautiful piece of jewellery, for the first time I regretted that I had never worn jewellery. Nevertheless, I immediately decided to buy a parlAmore and I am still very happy with that decision. In the sad period after my divorce, I noticed that touching the stone gave me a lot of support. And I feel it again now that my mother has passed away. The box with the parlAmore Mourning Button is a kind of altar for me. It radiates so much power.’

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  Marjan: Peace of mind

  ‘Ever since my husband Fred passed away I had wanted to do something with a shirt he often wore and which I really liked, but I couldn’t think what. The Mourning Button concept appealed to me instantly because it meant that I could wear something from his shirt. I don’t wear it all the time, mostly in the winter on a jumper that matches colour wise, but I keep it on my bedside table so it’s always there for me to see.The knowledge that I have something of Fred’s that I can always wear whenever I feel the need, grants me peace of mind. I have a shirt button and a cufflink that I can use on the stone base and they will remain with me for the rest of my days.’

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  Annemieke: Coming home

  ‘When I was a child, my mother´s button jar was an endless source of inspiration for me. So when I discovered the parlAmore Mourning Button I had a wonderful feeling of nostalgia – my most treasured buttons could fulfil the role that I had always hoped they would! I wear my Mourning Button regularly when conducting funerals. The appropriate button offers me a moment of reflection at the start of what is always an important day. A moment to think of the deceased and, literally, to carry them along with me.’
  Annemieke Zwanenburg, De Zwaan Uitvaarten, Utrecht

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  Marith: Comfort

  ‘A very dear friend of mine died unexpectedly. I felt the need for a ‘silent’ kind of comfort and a way in which to maintain an ongoing form of contact. The Mourning Button was exactly what I needed. Kees’children allowed me to choose a button from one of his shirts for my Mourning Button. I wore it on my lapel during the cremation. I now keep the beautiful little box (and bag) in a special place in my bedroom. It is and remains what I had hoped it would be: a source of comfort and a form of contact.’

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  H.: A silent bond

  ‘Whenever I wear my Mourning Button I feel a bond with my father. It makes me think of something he once said, one of his jokes, or of when he taught me how to fish on one of our summer holidays. I don’t always feel the need to talk about the fact that he is no longer around. For me parlAmore symbolises a quiet companionship that I will always treasure.’