Background information
10 mind-boggling facts about breast milk
by Katja Fischer
Breastmilk jewellery: a keepsake from a magical time
21.4.2023
Translation: Katherine Martin
Breastmilk is the best thing for a child. But did you know that you can have high-quality jewellery created from your milk?
Weird. I’ll admit that was the first word that sprung to mind when I first heard the phrase «breast milk jewellery». And this despite the fact that I happily breastfed both of my kids for a long time. In fact, when my now two-year-old son decided to wean himself at twelve months, I was so fuming that I wanted to write him out of my will.
The clientele: mainly mums, but also dog owners
The clientele, unsurprisingly, mostly consists of mums looking to create a lasting momento.
Having experienced some teething problems at the beginning of her own successful breastfeeding journey, Levke wanted to create a memento of that special time. While this was going on, she met parents at baby classes who wanted that kind of jewellery too. In the beginning, she made jewellery for herself and her mum friends.
«Besides that, we have a lot of parents of angel babies, who might only have breastmilk or a footprint left and want to immortalise something from that,» Levke tells us. «Angel baby» is the term used for children who’ve died before birth. Levke’s team also creates a number of jewellery pieces without breast milk: «For example, we’ve made jewellery using dog fur before.»
Rings and necklaces are especially popular
Are any pieces in particularly high demand? «One of our top sellers is the Lije necklace, which has a 7.5-millimetre pendant enwrought with a bead of breastmilk,» Levke says. She adds that the Ava ring, with a two-millimetre diameter breastmilk stone is popular too. The necklace costs 129 EUR, the ring 149.
«Breast milk jewellery lasts a lifetime!»
It may sound pricey at first, but it’s a good investment. «Breast milk jewellery lasts a lifetime!» Levke assures me. «We do, however, give our customers very clear recommendations on how to wear and care for the jewellery, for instance, that you shouldn’t wear it in water.»
For Levke, who used to work as a travel and traffic tourism clerk for a major automobile club, things didn’t stop at jewellery. Her offers to make breastmilk jewellery went down extremely well with her friends and acquaintances. «It spread like wildfire,» she says.
After Levke explains the manufacturing process and shows me photos of her creations, «weird» is the last word I’d use to describe this unique jewellery. I’m not going to have any more children, but if I happened to have some frozen breastmilk lying around somewhere, I’d be all over it!
Header image: Levke Lorenzen/Muttermilchkosmetik.de
A true local journalist with a secret soft spot for German pop music. Mum of two boys, a dog and about 400 toy cars in all shapes and colours. I always enjoy travelling, reading and go to concerts, too.
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