A Jewish Living Delaware Exclusive Interview with Rachel Samani, Founder of The Honest Jeweler
By Emma Driban, Editor
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The Honest Jeweler—a faith-rooted jewelry brand that blends, beauty, meaning, and spiritual grounding— began as a personal act of healing.
After going through a time of loss an uncertainty, founder Rachel Samani engraved her first piece with Hebrew words that brough her strength: “עמיד ה” (G-d is with me). She quickly found that her pieces resonated with others.
Today, her signature spinner rings serve as tangible reminders of faith and calm. Each one is engraved with powerful Hebrew or English messages like “This Too Shall Pass” or “You Got This,” offering quiet comfort during difficult moments. Her elegant rings, bracelets, and necklaces carry the themes of emunah, connection, and hope—values deeply woven into Jewish life.
Read on to learn about Rachel’s journey from uncertainty to inspiration.
What moment or experience first inspired you to create the Honest Jeweler?
There was a moment where I was on the floor playing with my kids—I had five little ones at the time—and we were just playing a game and I realized at that moment that my mind was scattered all over the place. I went through a very hard time when I began the Honest Jeweler, so there wasn’t really any particular moment. It was very difficult for me to be with my kids because I had so much in front of me but my mind was either in the past or worried about the future. It hit me that I wasn’t living in the now. I was in pain from what had happened and I was worried about where my future was headed. There were months passing when my kids were growing up and it was like I was with them but had zero feeling behind it. That was when I realized I have to seize the moment, I have to live for today. I found myself rubbing my fingers together, grounding myself with a tangible, tactile act like, “Okay, Rachel, you’re here; you’re here right now.” It really helped me look at my kids, to appreciate their sweetness and their innocence. Moments are fleeting.
The whole concept of mindful jewelry kind of came from that idea. Spinner rings are a tangible reminder to be in the moment. You spin the ring and you’re grounding yourself, reminding yourself of what truly matters.
When did you realize that your personal expression of faith could resonate with others, too?
I really created this for myself. I was engraving other things at the time. I bought a machine to keep myself busy. To be honest, it was more of a distraction for myself. I started engraving baby bracelets, some pendants, and then this spinner ring came to mind. I would go out in all different places and people would ask what it was. I would say, “Oh, you know, it says ‘G-d is with me’ or ‘Let Go, Let G-d,’” and it seemed to really resonate with people. They wanted their own.
I started gifting it to people and then actually creating it, posting it on Instagram, and that’s when it really started. I got emails. I remember getting an email, just one sentence, saying thank you for bringing this ring into the world. That was it. It was so beautiful. I didn’t even realize it meant so much to whoever this was. I realized that it had an impact on people more than typical jewelry. It was a reminder that they needed when they were going through life—maybe it was a challenging moment, maybe it was a happy moment. It doesn’t matter. Just to be present and to be in there.
The spinner rings are a signature part of your collection. What other pieces do you have in your collection that you would want to highlight?
We have bangles, which are also one of our bestsellers. There are many different bangles and they don’t tarnish. We have a lot of sayings like, “Let them, Let me.” That one is actually inspired by Mel Robbins, who, by the way, also wears our spinner ring. Rachel Platten, the singer of “Fight Song,” wears “this too, shall pass.” She loved the saying. She was actually playing with it in one of her concerts a couple months back and said it is just something that grounds her.
How do you balance aesthetics and spirituality in your jewelry? What inspires the messages you use on your pieces?
I’m my own North Star. I’ve been through a lot of different challenges in my life, so it’s almost like I think to myself, what would I want to tell myself or that little girl? Recently, I made a bangle and a ring that says, “bishvili nivra ha’olam,” which means “the world was created for me.” It just came to my mind. I would want to hear that the world was created for me. And someone else is going to want to hear it. And then, a couple days later, I got a call. Someone asked me to engrave for an orphanage. 60 girls in an orphanage. She couldn’t decide what quote to use and I asked her, “What about the world was created for me?” And she’s like, “Oh, my God, I love it. Yes.” I happened to just get the rings in and I was able to package the 60 rings for the girls in the orphanage. It was something that I would want to tell them, that G-d created the world for you and that you matter.
When I engrave, I’m intentional. I literally think of that girl who’s wearing that ring. I want her to look down at that ring, I want her to spin that ring, and I want her to know that G-d created the world for her soul.
You describe your brand as rooted in emunah—faith. How does your Jewish identity influence your creative process?
It’s the foundation of it all. For me, my faith fuels my creativity. Deep inside my soul, there’s definitely a foundation of true emunah. The entire brand was created from this. I think it’s from my teachings, from my studies, from when I said Shema at night. When I created a ring for Shema Yisrael, for people who need that extra reminder. I think the entire business honestly revolves around everything I learned as a child. Judaism is the foundation for it all.
Do you see jewelry-making as a spiritual practice in itself?
Definitely. I’m grateful every day that I get to do this. I mean, creating 60 pieces for girls at an orphanage, it’s like, who gets to do that? It’s unbelievable. It fuels my soul. I actually also made a couple of hundred, or maybe it was a few thousand over time, bracelets that say Eshat Chayil, which is “the wife of a soldier.” When the soldiers were in Gaza, we had organizations where we sent these to gift to the wives of the soldiers who went into Gaza during the war. I had emails coming in saying, “It was my birthday today and my husband wasn’t here.” Or, “I was in the middle of fertility treatment and my husband just left for war.” And, “I just feel so alone and when I got this bracelet, it said eshat chayil.” It was just so beautiful that I got to be a part of that. It fuels me. It makes me feel good. That, for a lot of women, it’s not about the bracelet. It’s the feeling that it brings them. I get to be a part of that feeling. It’s incredible.
Have there been any orders that have especially moved you?
I had a woman who told me that she lost her son, and she asked me to engrave “David, my boy” on the ring. It was going to be one year since he passed; he would have been 22. Sometimes people reach out to me, which is great, but most often I don’t know the story behind the ring. I wrote the date of his passing because she happened to tell me on the phone even though she hadn’t asked me to engrave it on there. I wrote “forever” inside and added the date just to surprise her. When she got the ring, she was stunned. It was everything she wanted and I just wanted to make her smile. Does it take me another 15 minutes to do the inside of the ring and write forever? Yes. But for me to do something extra, for her to feel she’s not alone, and for me to acknowledge her pain. I’m holding space for her, and that’s something that I feel so honored to be a part of.
How do you hope your jewelry supports people in moments of uncertainty or transition?
Sometimes it’s hard to redirect your thoughts. It’s difficult to change our inner critic into an inner coach. People say, “just replace your negative thought.” But, it’s hard. We all have a lot of negative thoughts. As much as we want to stay positive, it’s really hard work. These rings are positive, mindful reminders. Stay present. And there’s just so many sayings that resonate with many different people. I’m so happy to be able to do this. It’s really my passion.
How has this journey changed the way you view strength, healing, and connection?
Initially, it was a distraction from pain and the different things that were going on, but it has really fueled me. It made me be just more present, more mindful. And when you are present and when you live in the moment, you just become more grateful. You become grateful for what you have and for the health that you have—whatever it is, your kids, your husband, your family member, your parents. You view the world differently. Instead of all the negativity that happened or shouldn’t have happened, I can really appreciate the good. I’ve become more grateful, more positive than I ever was before.
Where do you hope to take the brand next?
Right now, I’m really hoping to get more physical locations. People reach out to me saying they need a gift really fast. Someone is not well, going through cancer, and they’re going to the hospital right now. They’ll ask if I have a location in Brooklyn, or wherever. Right now, I only ship from my home. I would love to get these in stores around the US, so people can grab a bangle, grab a ring.
We are always creating new designs, more with pavé diamonds on the side of the spinner ring. We’re getting more pendants in. There are a lot of beautiful designs coming your way. We’re really excited to just grow and inspire. That’s the main idea. We all need inspiration, and these days, we all could use a little extra inspiration.
What makes your products a great gift for anyone during this Chanukah season?
It has such a personal touch. You can get a scarf, you can get a sweater, but this has so much meaning. It’s a great way to show that you are thinking of someone. Weather you pick “Let Go, Let G-d,” or a bangle with positivity or strength or gratefulness, it’s a personal message of “I thought of you.”
Learn more about The Honest Jeweler at TheHonestJewelerShop.com or follow the page on Instagram, @TheHonestJeweler.
