Foundrae's summer jewelry turns symbolism into layered personal talismans

Medallions, chains, and charm-like forms drive FoundRae’s summer collection “The Limitless Expansion of Joy and Hope.” The New York brand folds color, meaning, and shine into pieces meant to be layered until they feel personal rather than ornamental. The result is jewelry that reads less like a set of products and more like a vocabulary for joy, memory, and reinvention.

Joy, hope, and a summer-day state of mind

It is built around the idea that joy, love, and beauty exist in infinite supply. That belief shapes the collection’s tone as much as its materials. The work leans on the feeling of a summer day and a state of daydream, or Reverie, which gives the pieces a softness that keeps them from feeling overly literal or overly precious.

FoundRae has long built its identity on symbolic fine jewelry and modern heirlooms. Since Beth Hutchens and Murat Bugdaycay founded the brand in New York in 2015, FoundRae has used medallions, rings, and chains as tools for storytelling rather than simple adornment. The name itself, combining “Found” and Rae, Hutchens’ grandmother’s name, reinforces the sense that the jewelry is meant to carry something inherited, remembered, or newly claimed.

The motifs that do the storytelling

The collection’s visual language centers on medallions, annex links, butterflies, sparrows, and love-token motifs. Those forms are not interchangeable accents; each one carries a specific emotional charge inside FoundRae’s symbolism system. A medallion can feel declarative, a link chain can feel structural, and a butterfly or sparrow reads as an emblem rather than a decorative flourish.

In FoundRae’s symbolism system, the sparrow is a symbol of Resilience because it echoes spero, the Latin word for hope. That gives the bird a sharper edge than a generic nature motif. It becomes a compact sign of endurance.

The butterfly carries a different message. At FoundRae, it is a symbol of an inextinguishable soul, always drawn to light. The brand’s butterfly symbolism also refers to three winged souls of inspiration, Mneme, Aiode, and Melete, which grounds the motif in memory, music, and creative flow.

Why layering is the point

This collection is designed for stacking and layering. The assortment includes 18k gold chains, gemstone medallions, earrings, rings, turquoise link open chains, ceramic link long chains, bracelets, necklaces, and pendants, all presented as pieces that can build on one another. Rather than offering a single hero jewel, the brand invites the wearer to assemble a narrative in stages.

The materials also help with that effect. 18k gold brings warmth and weight, while turquoise link open chains and ceramic link long chains introduce color and texture that interrupt the monotony of all-gold dressing. Gemstone medallions add another layer of personalization because they can shift the mood from bright to contemplative, or from celebratory to talismanic, depending on the stone and how it is paired.

How the symbolism translates to real life

FoundRae’s product language makes the collection’s mood explicit: there is “no such thing as too much love, too much joy,” and the jewelry is meant to let an “inner light” disperse into rainbow color. That philosophy gives the collection a useful styling logic. Self-gifting pieces can be the ones with the clearest symbols, like sparrows for resilience or butterflies for creative renewal. Friendship gifts may work best when they feel open-ended, such as a medallion or chain that can later be built upon with another charm or layer.

For milestone dressing, the most effective pieces are the ones that can anchor a composition. A gemstone medallion on an 18k gold chain can sit against a shorter chain with a different texture, while a turquoise link open chain or ceramic link long chain can add a burst of color that keeps the stack from feeling too solemn.

The number that signals completion

The number 10 tucked into butterfly designs represents manifestation and completion in FoundRae’s symbolism system. That gives the butterfly a second reading, one that goes beyond spirit or transformation into the language of arrival.

A brand built for modern heirlooms

FoundRae’s framework includes tenets such as vivacity, wholeness, infinite gratitude, joy, and hope. In a market crowded with jewelry that relies on initials, engraving, or birthstones as the default path to personalization, FoundRae offers something more layered. Its medallions, rings, and chains are meant to be personalized through accumulation, symbolism, and the wearer’s own sequence of choices.

FoundRae participated in Sing for Hope Pianos NYC 2025, aligning the sparrow symbol with a program that places artist-designed pianos in public spaces and schools.