True Love and Heart-Shaped Jewelry: The Symbol of Romance Gets Real

I’m sure you’ve seen it by now. Grocery stores, drug stores, department stores, and even corner markets are filling up with red and pink: roses (faux and real), plush animals, candy, and hearts of every color and size.

I admit, I’m a raving romantic, and I’ve always liked hearts. Well, some hearts. I like hearts in unusual forms, such as heart-shaped leaves, seashell bits and rocks that have been worn and weathered into hearts, and random heart shapes that occur by happenstance—from the cocoa at the bottom of my mug of hot chocolate to the holes in my tomato slices. I love seeing hearts in everyday life, and I always think of them as sweet messages of love from my beloved grandmothers and other loved ones. Either way, they make me feel happy and loved.

Heart-shaped doilies are the most darling little things ever, but heart-shaped boxes of candy? I’m usually not a fan. And heart-shaped jewelry? Not so much, for me—at least not until recently. 

Real-Life Love

I’ve started seeing metal heart-shaped jewelry designs with a liveliness, an edge, in styles that aren’t sugary sweet but that seem filled with the real passion and compassion, real ups and downs, real joy and heartache that real love can bring. I’m watching a film adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility (again) as I write, and Marianne just said, “To love is to burn, to be on fire, like Juliet or Guinevere or Eloise!” No doily or fluffy heart conveys that kind of love.

Is your heart broken? Thomas has created stitched, hammered, and riveted heart designs that completely convey that feeling—some appropriately feature nails or thorns. For hearts bursting with joy from new babies, new careers, or new adventures, hearts with wings are just the thing. For a heart that’s burning with new love, Thomas creates flaming hearts set with rubies! I love the reality I see and feel in Thomas’s heart-shaped metal jewelry. 

Favorite Heart-Shaped Jewelry Projects

Ready to convey your own feelings of passionate love, joyful love, head-spinning love, wistful love? Here are some projects to fit the bill. Click the arrows to left and right to view our top picks!

Get Ready for Valentine’s Day or Every Day

Are you in the mood for pretty heart-shaped jewelry or romantic jewelry, a quick and easy or involved and challenging project, or other metal jewelry designs that are stitched, hammered, riveted, and stone-set to represent your heart? You can find all of these and more wire and metal jewelry projects in the Interweave Jewelry Shop or included in an Interweave+ membership.

Originally published 2/10/2017. Updated 2/8/2023.