Objects for grief,
memory, and personal ritual.

A Sacred Mourning is a dedicated mourning and memorial jewellery practice, founded by artist and jeweller Brent Dakis after the passing of his 13-year-old daughter, Ivy.

Based in Sassafras in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges, the practice brings together an established background in jewellery and a deeply personal experience of bereavement, with mourning and remembrance at the centre of its work.

Through bespoke jewellery, reliquaries, memorial gemstones, and objects for personal ritual, A Sacred Mourning offers ways to give physical form to love, grief, and continued connection. Each piece is shaped around what feels meaningful to the person carrying it, whether through memory, belief, symbolism, or something of their loved one held within it.

This work is not about moving on, but about creating something tangible to hold, wear, light, return to, or live with as part of an ongoing relationship with those we have lost.

Close-up of a bronze reliquary lantern hanging from outside the frame. A picture of Brent and his daughter Ivy are shown out of focus behind it with a lit candle.

Relics, Ritual, Remembrance

Grief often exists without clear structure or language, settling into the ordinary parts of life in ways that can be difficult to explain. Through carefully made objects and repeated acts of intention, A Sacred Mourning offers a way to give that grief form, not to contain it, or resolve it, but to create small points of connection that can be returned to over time.

Each piece begins with an understanding of what is being carried. For some, that may be faith, prayer, or spiritual practice; for others, it may be symbolism, story, material, scent, touch, or the simple need for something physical when memory feels too intangible.

Offerings of Memory & Ritual

A metallic sculpture of a hand pointed to the sky with a chapel below it. From the hand hangs a silver chain necklace - one of the bespoke Charon's obol pendants.

Brent Dakis in his studio in Sassafras using a jewellers loupe to inspect jewellery he is working on.

Bespoke Mourning Jewellery
Personal pieces made to be worn close, including memorial signets, reliquary pendants, earrings, rings, and custom works incorporating engraving, gemstones, ashes, hairwork, fur, fabric, handwritten fragments, or other meaningful inclusions.

Memorial Gemstones
Created stones designed to hold ashes, hair, fur, flowers, soil, or small personal artefacts within a clear, durable form, offering a transparent alternative to more commercially romanticised cremation gemstone processes.

Ritual Goods
Candles, incense, resins, oils, and ritual materials chosen to support moments of grief, devotion, prayer, reflection, or personal ceremony, allowing scent, flame, and smoke to become part of how memory is marked.

Commissions are open, and each piece begins as a conversation.

This is a personal process, shaped by connection, reflection, and an understanding of what is being carried, whether rooted in faith, spirituality, personal ritual, cultural practice, or any form of meaning unique to you.

An existing design can be adapted through engraving, adornment, gemstones, symbolism, sacred references, ashes, hairwork, fur, personal artefacts, or other requested inclusions, or we can develop something entirely bespoke from the beginning.

This work is not limited to honouring people; pieces may also be created in memory of beloved animals and companion pets.

My intention is to help bring something into form that feels true to your experience, offering guidance throughout while ensuring the final piece is not only crafted, but lived with, as part of an ongoing relationship with memory.

A Sacred Mourning is based in Sassafras, Victoria, within a space created for jewellery, ritual goods, conversation, and remembrance. You are welcome to visit during open hours, browse available pieces, or begin discussing a commission in person. You do not need to arrive with everything resolved; sometimes the first step is simply seeing what feels right.