The Elder Brother Legend

Two brothers were born five years apart, and they grew so close that the younger brother sought the older brother's guidance like a compass.

When the older brother died at age 37, the younger brother discovered a collection of coins which the older brother had acquired from traveling to 20 countries. The younger brother began drilling holes in the coins and he attached iron chains to create necklaces. He started giving away the necklaces to friends, family, and even strangers who desired them.

The hole drilled in each coin reflected the pain in the younger brother's heart. Through hundreds of iterations, he discovered a method of sewing metal by using copper thread to stitch bronze gears onto the coins. The fronts of the pendants became like metallic flowers standing in opposition to his pain. It was through this process of transforming and releasing the older brother's coins that the younger brother became a jeweler.

Over the course of three years, the younger brother gave away 186 of these coin necklaces as they evolved in complexity and refinement. He wore the older brother's last coin for three years and he struggled in deciding whether or not to keep it. He finally decided he would let go of the older brother's last coin, so he made a special plan for it.

First, he traveled to every country the older brother had visited, except one country which was impossible to reach. The younger brother collected his own coins from each country. He then cut small pieces from each of his own coins and soldered these coin sections around the older brother's last coin. Using silver thread, he sewed three silver gears and a copper bail onto the last coin. He fashioned a chain with a small cage at the end, and in the cage he included a ring made from melting the older brother's silver cufflinks.

He named the necklace "The Coin of Passage" because he felt it represented overcoming the passing of his older brother. It was the right to pass, an act of passing, and a passageway leading to the end of his mourning. He decided he would bury the necklace at the older brother's grave above the older brother's heart. A narrow hole was dug at the grave in the fall while the earth was soft so the necklace could be buried the following winter.

The moment of the necklace burial was chosen with great intention. It was the exact minute the younger brother's lifespan surpassed the older brother's lifespan -- precisely 19,477,167 minutes into the younger brother's life. He passed his arm into the earth in order to return the last coin his brother had left behind, and he became the Elder Brother.

The jewelry creation process moved forward with a will of its own. All-new components were designed and manufactured in silver, gold, and platinum. The quality of each piece reached masterful levels. Holes were minimized to exemplify the act of healing. Gears were kept with 20 points to represent the 20 visited countries. The Map of Humanity was created using a small section of the lost brother's footprint taken the day of birth. Initially representing brotherhood and travel, the Map of Humanity soon became a mark of unity and familiarity; an understanding that we share a common desire to be recognized by one another.

Caps Legend continues to this day with an unmistakable sewn metal technique, and new branches of expansive designs have also formed. The project has grown beyond its initial scope of self-healing and now focuses on reaching people with a message of recognition and commonality.

Borne In Celebration

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