Patent Publication Number: US-2005138962-A1

Title: Pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus and method

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)  
      This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/532,469, entitled “Pedigree Jewelry Pendant Apparatus and Method”, filed on Dec. 24, 2003, the subject matter of which is hereby incorporated therein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates generally to a jewelry pendant apparatus and a method thereof, and more particularly, the present invention relates to pedigree jewelry pendant apparatuses and methods of configuring a jewelry pendant to represent a pedigree arrangement.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Jewelry which “tells a story” has traditionally been very popular. As well, jewelry which denotes the pride of parenthood has developed a large market. Notable examples of this phenomenon include the “Mother&#39;s ring” containing the birthstones of each child and the “Mother and Child” pendant design. These designs have become a popular gift items at the birth of a child of for Mother&#39;s Day. The design presented serves both of these roles, denoting the pride of a parent while displaying the “story” of the family unit by representing each parent&#39;s and each child&#39;s gender and birthstone, and the birth order of the children. The format in which the birth order and other details (such as twin births) are represented is in the widely utilized “Pedigree Chart” notation. One way of depicting a family-tree commonly utilized by physicians and geneticists in order to clearly and quickly display important family connections is as follows:  
                                                                        Normal female                                     Normal male                                     Sex unknown                                     Single bar indicates mating                                     Normal parents and normal offspring, two girls and a boy, in birth order indicated by the numbers; I and II indicate generations                                     Single parent as presented means partner is normal or of no significance to the analysis                                     Double bar indicates a consanguineous mating (mating between clase relatives)                                     Fraternal twins (not identical)                                     Identical twins                  
 
      Therefore, it is desirable to have a jewelry pendant to represent a genetic make-up of a family, and accordingly, there is a need for a pedigree jewelry pendant capable of representing a family with multiple children and/or multiple generations.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention provides a pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus which can be used to represent a genetic make-up of a family and is capable of representing a family with multiple children and/or multiple generations.  
      In one embodiment of the present invention, a pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus comprises a first horizontal jewelry pendant member representing a first generation of a family and having a first end and a second end to couple to a piece of jewelry which represents at least one member in the first generation of the family; a second horizontal jewelry pendant member representing a second generation of the family and having at least one end to couple to a piece of jewelry which represents at least one member in the second generation of the family; and a vertical jewelry pendant member connecting to both the first and second horizontal jewelry pendant members, whereby a cross is formed between the first horizontal jewelry pendant member and the vertical jewelry pendant member.  
      Still in one embodiment of the present invention, the first end of the first horizontal jewelry pendant member is connected to a birthstone of a shape denoting the male sex, and the second end of the first horizontal jewelry pendant member is connected to a birthstone of a shape denoting the female sex.  
      Additionally in one embodiment of the present invention, the vertical jewelry pendant member includes a first end connected to a necklace, and a second end connected to the second horizontal jewelry pendant member.  
      Further in one embodiment of the present invention, the one end of the second horizontal jewelry pendant member is connected to a birthstone of a child of the male sex and the female sex, thereby representing the second generation of the family.  
      In a second embodiment of the present invention, the second horizontal jewelry pendant member includes a horizontal bar having at least two ends connected to birthstones of at least two children of either sex.  
      In a third embodiment of the present invention, a second vertical jewelry pendant member is connected to one end of the horizontal bar. The second vertical jewelry pendant member is connectable to a third horizontal jewelry pendant member, thereby representing a third generation of the family.  
      Accordingly, one of the advantages of the present invention is that a jewelry pendant can be used to represent a family with multiple children and/or multiple generations.  
      Another advantage of the present invention is that the jewelry pendant can be used to represent a genetic make-up of a family, while also recognizing the paternal side of the family, or to denote many other features, such as twins, triplets, etc. of a family. It is appreciated that the above and other advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art. As it will be realized, the present invention is capable of modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.  
      Yet in one embodiment of the present invention, a line of jewelry comprises of bezel or prong set birthstones of each parent and child. The shapes of the stones can be square, round or any other suitable shape to denote the gender of a person represented and arranged using the symbols and in the configuration utilized in a pedigree chart.  
      It is appreciated that a pedigree jewelry apparatus in accordance with the principles of the present invention can be adapted to many configurations, including pendants, brooches, earrings, bracelets, finger rings, and charms, etc. Also, it is appreciated that the pedigree jewelry apparatus of the present invention can be cast or fabricated from many suitable jewelry stone materials, such as precious metal, base metal, wood, ivory, bone, clay, glass, or plastic, etc. Further, the setting for the jewelry stone can be created to accept cabochon or faceted calibrated stones, or custom-made for irregularly sized stones.  
      These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein it is shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention, including best modes contemplated for carrying out the invention. As it will be realized, the invention is capable of modifications in various obvious aspects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates a front view of one exemplary embodiment of a pedigree jewelry pendant with a configuration of birthstones representing a one-child family, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a front view of one exemplary embodiment of a pedigree jewelry pendant with a configuration of birthstones representing three-child family, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3A  illustrates a front view of one exemplary embodiment of a pedigree jewelry pendant shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  with a configuration of birthstones representing parents, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 3B  illustrates a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of a pedigree jewelry pendant as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  with a configuration of birthstones representing parents, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 4A  illustrates a front view of one exemplary embodiment of a 3-child add-on bar of a pedigree jewelry pendant shown in  FIG. 2 , in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 4B  illustrates a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of a 3-child add-on bar of a pedigree jewelry pendant shown in  FIG. 2 , in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 5A  illustrates a front view of one exemplary embodiment of the pedigree jewelry pendant shown in  FIG. 2  with a configuration of a birthstone representing male, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 5B  illustrates a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of the pedigree jewelry pendant shown in  FIG. 2  with a configuration of a birthstone representing male, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 6A  illustrates a front view of one exemplary embodiment of a 2-child add-on bar of a pedigree jewelry pendant, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 6B  illustrates a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of a 2-child add-on bar of a pedigree jewelry pendant, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 7A  illustrates a front view of one exemplary embodiment of the pedigree jewelry pendant shown in  FIG. 2  with a configuration of a birthstone representing female, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIG. 7B  illustrates a perspective view of one exemplary embodiment of the pedigree jewelry pendant shown in  FIG. 2  with a configuration of a birthstone representing female, in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       FIG. 1  illustrates one embodiment of a pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus  100  representing a genetic make-up of a family of two parents in a first generation and one child in a second generation, whereas  FIG. 2  illustrates another embodiment of a pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus  200  representing a genetic make-up of a family of two parents in a first generation and three children in a second generation.  
      The descriptions of an exemplary pedigree chart of symbols and configurations used in  FIGS. 1 and 2  are as follows:  
      In  FIG. 1 , the pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus  100  comprises a first horizontal jewelry pendant member  102  representing a first generation  104  of a family. The first horizontal jewelry pendant member  102  includes a first end  106  and a second end  108  to each couple to a piece of jewelry  110 ,  112  which represents at least one member in the first generation  104  of the family. The apparatus  100  further comprises a second horizontal jewelry pendant member  114  representing a second generation  116  of the family. The second horizontal jewelry pendant member  112  includes at least one end to couple to a piece of jewelry  120  which represents at least one member in the second generation  112  of the family. The apparatus  100  also comprises a vertical jewelry pendant member  122  connecting to both the first and second horizontal jewelry pendant members  102 ,  114 , whereby a cross is formed between the first horizontal jewelry pendant member  102  and the vertical jewelry pendant member  122 .  
      Still in  FIG. 1 , the first end  106  of the first horizontal jewelry pendant member  102  is connected to a birthstone, e.g. the jewelry  110 , of a male sex, and the second end  108  of the first horizontal jewelry pendant member  102  is connected to a birthstone, e.g. the jewelry  112 , of a female sex.  
      In  FIG. 1 , the vertical jewelry pendant member  122  includes a first end  124  connected to a necklace  126 , and a second end  128  connected to the second horizontal jewelry pendant member  114 . The one end  118  of the second horizontal jewelry pendant member  114  is connected to a birthstone, e.g. the jewelry  120 , of a child of either sex (this example depicts a female child), thereby representing the second generation  116  of the family.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates a second embodiment of the pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus  200 , in accordance with the principles of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the second horizontal jewelry pendant member  114  includes a horizontal bar  130  having at least two ends  132 ,  134  connected to birthstones, e.g. jewelry  136 ,  138  of at least two children of the male sex and the female sex. In  FIG. 2 , the parents have three children, two girls represented by two round birthstones  136 ,  138 , and one boy represented by a square birthstone  140 .  
      It is appreciated that the pendant apparatus may include more generations of a family, i.e. vertically including more horizontal jewelry pendant members. For example, the apparatus  200  may include a second vertical jewelry pendant member (not shown) connected to one end, e.g.  132 ,  134 , etc., of the horizontal bar  130 . The second vertical jewelry pendant member is connectable to a third horizontal jewelry pendant member (not shown), thereby representing a third generation of the family.  
       FIGS. 3A-3B  illustrate front and perspective views of the first generation  104  of the pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus  100 ,  200  shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  with a configuration of birthstones  110 ,  112  representing parents, in accordance with the principles of the present invention.  
       FIGS. 4A-4B  illustrate front and perspective views of one exemplary embodiment of the horizontal bar  130  for a 3-child pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus as shown in  FIG. 2 .  
       FIGS. 5A-5B  illustrate front and perspective views of one exemplary embodiment of a configuration of the square birthstone, e.g. jewelry  110 ,  140 , representing male sex.  
       FIGS. 6A-6B  illustrate front and perspective views of one exemplary embodiment of a horizontal bar for a 2-child pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus, similar to the horizontal bar  130  for the 3-child pedigree jewelry pendant apparatus  200  as shown in  FIG. 2 .  
       FIGS. 7A-7B  illustrate front and perspective views of one exemplary embodiment of a configuration of the round birthstone, e.g. jewelry  112 ,  136 ,  138 , representing female sex.