Wearing your pet's ashes in Auckland: jewelry options
Around 37,000 dogs and cats die in Auckland each year, by our estimate, and many families keep a little of the ashes to wear. Here's what pendants, glass and diamonds cost and how to get one filled safely.
- Pendants, rings, glass and diamonds
- How to mail ashes to a maker safely
- Written prices before you commit
Auckland, New Zealand
Jewelers, glass artists and online makers near Auckland
Auckland's beaches, harbours and volcanic cones are where many pets spent their happiest hours, and some owners want to scatter ashes there. Several of these places carry deep significance for mana whenua, the local Māori tribes, and scattering ashes may be inappropriate at some sites. Check with the relevant council or park authority first, and consider a quieter garden or private spot instead.
Many Auckland families bury ashes in the garden or plant a tree over them, which suits the region's mild climate and long growing season. Native plants such as a kowhai or a flax are popular choices and do well in local soils. If you rent or expect to move, keep the ashes in an urn until you have a permanent spot, or divide a portion into a keepsake.
Online makers have one big advantage over most Auckland shops: range. If you want a ring with a sealed ash window, a pendant engraved with your cat's actual nose print or a resin stone that holds fur, a specialist studio elsewhere may have made hundreds of them. The trade-off is mailing a spoonful of ashes. Plenty of people split the difference: they buy from a specialist but ask a local jeweler to fill the piece, or to check the seal once it arrives.
Auckland's population is around 1,657,000.
Our estimate
435,000
How many dog- or cat-owning households Auckland has (estimate)
How we calculated this
1,657,000 ÷ 2.7 = 613,704 households; × 31% (dog) + 40% (cat) = 435,000. Multi-pet homes count once.
Our estimate
37,000
Estimated dog and cat losses in Auckland each year
How we calculated this
435,000 dog/cat-owning homes ÷ average lifespan (dog: 12.69 yrs + cat: 11.18 yrs) ≈ 37,000 a year. Treat it as a minimum.
31%[1]
31% of New Zealand households have a dog, down from 34% in 2020.
12.69 years[2]
US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years.
40%[3]
40% of New Zealand households have a cat - cats are NZ's most popular pet.
11.18 years[4]
US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years.
None of the figures on this this page are ours alone: they rest on Companion Animals New Zealand, 2024 NZ Pet Data Report and Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science.
Local attitudes to keeping ashes close
Roughly 69%[5] of funerals in New Zealand end in cremation. Where habits are mixed, a relative may worry that dividing ashes is disrespectful. It can help to explain that a pendant takes a pinch, the rest stays together and nothing stops you burying or scattering the main portion later. Put that way, most objections soften.
That New Zealand rate is a human one, published by The Spinoff, citing FDANZ 2023 Funeral Industry Trends Report (2023). We quote it for Auckland only as a pointer to how families here already think about cremation.
How the local climate affects fit, seals and finish
Climate affects rings more than pendants. Fingers swell in heat and shrink in cold, so if you're ordering a sealed ring in Auckland, measure at the end of the day in a comfortable room and ask about a comfort-fit band. It's the single most common reason memorial rings get returned.
Budgeting for a pendant, ring or glass piece
We haven't found reliable published prices for pet cremation jewelry from Australian or New Zealand makers, so the table shows the clearest prices we could verify from UK, Swiss and US makers. They give you a sense of scale: a UK glass ash pendant costs £170[6], US steel pendants start from $19.95[7] (per one large retailer). Local jewelers in Auckland will price in their own currency, so ask for a written total.
We keep the detailed New Zealand price table on one page so it stays current: see New Zealand prices.
Free tool
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
What New Zealand allows with your pet's ashes
There are very few rules about what you do with a pet's ashes. Keeping them at home, dividing them between family members and sealing a pinch in a pendant are all yours to decide. Where rules do come in is scattering the rest, burying them and sending them by post, which is why it's worth knowing the basics for New Zealand before you decide what happens to the ashes that don't go into jewelry.
In New Zealand, keepsake jewelry is usually arranged through the pet crematorium or ordered online, often from overseas makers. Posting ashes internationally can be restricted, so a self-fill pendant filled at home, or by a local jeweler, is often the easiest route. Ask the crematorium to set a small amount aside for jewelry when you arrange the cremation.
What to do first, and what can wait
- Call your vet or an aftercare provider first. They'll explain how and when your pet is collected; jewelry is a question for later.
- If you can, keep a lock of fur. A resin piece needs only a small cutting, taken beneath the chin or from the ruff before your pet is collected and tucked into a paper envelope.
- Press a paw into something soft if you have modelling clay or washable ink to hand. Skip it if it feels like too much; the vet or crematory may take one.
- Say when you book that you want ashes back, plus a small separate portion for jewelry.
- Give yourself a few weeks. Shock makes choices harder, and a pendant chosen a month later means every bit as much.
- When you're ready, compare two routes: a jeweler near Auckland for a same-day fill, or a specialist studio for a custom design.
Small rituals that go with a memorial piece
Paw prints, nose prints and a lock of fur are simple keepsakes that many Auckland families ask for before cremation. With relatives often spread across New Zealand, Australia and further afield, dividing ashes into small urns or cremation jewellery lets everyone keep a connection. Tell the provider what you would like before the cremation, so the right portions can be set aside.
the planning tools turn your pet's details into figures, or see what other families chose in the poll results, The services page is the place to compare what is included, read our guides and latest articles. You can also browse every city in New Zealand.
Reader polls
What would you choose?
Vote anonymously and see how other readers answered. The results are live counts from people who visit this site, so they show real opinions, not a scientific sample.
Would you get a piece for anyone else in the family?
Tap an answer to vote and see how others answered. Anonymous.
What worries you most about wearing your pet's ashes?
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If you had to decide today, which aftercare would you choose for your pet?
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Free tools to help you plan
Memorial budget planner
Add up cremation, urn, keepsakes and a farewell so the total holds no surprises.
Jewelry ash capacity guide
How much ash fits in pendants, rings and glass, and how many pieces one pet can fill.
Ashes sharing planner
Split ashes fairly between family members, keepsake urns and jewelry.
Questions people ask
How many pet owners live in Auckland?
By our estimate, about 435,000 households in Auckland have at least one dog or cat, and around 37,000 are lost each year. We calculate this from the city's population of about 1,657,000, the average household size and national ownership and lifespan figures, so treat it as a floor rather than an exact count.
Is cremation common in New Zealand?
For people, yes: about 69%[5] of New Zealand deaths end in cremation, according to The Spinoff, citing FDANZ 2023 Funeral Industry Trends Report (2023). Nobody publishes the same figure for pets, but in our experience pet choices in Auckland follow the human pattern closely, so cremation is the default most families here start from.
Can a jeweler engrave a pendant that's already filled?
Often, as long as the engraving goes on a solid surface away from the sealed thread. Laser engraving produces little heat and doesn't touch the chamber. Hand and rotary engraving put pressure on the piece, so tell the engraver it holds ashes and ask them to check the seal afterwards. Where you can, engrave first and fill second.
Can I wear cremation jewelry in the shower?
Better not, for most pieces. Hot water, soap and shampoo can weaken adhesive over time and leave a film in engraving. Solid glass and memorial diamonds cope, but clasps and chains still wear. Take the piece off, put it in the same small dish every time and put it back on once you're dry, so it never gets left on a basin edge.
Can one pendant hold ashes from two pets?
Yes. Many chambers take a pinch from each, and some makers offer double-chambered pieces or two glass beads on one chain. Only mix the portions if you're sure, because once sealed they can't be separated. The capacity guide helps you check a chamber is big enough for both, and keeping a little of each pet apart in the urn leaves options open.
How much ash goes into a pendant?
Very little. A typical ashes pendant holds only a pinch, about a teaspoon at most[9], and ash-in-glass pieces use only about 1/8–1/2 tsp[10] of ashes (per one urn retailer's guide). That means even a small cat leaves enough for several pieces with plenty left for an urn. Our jewelry ash capacity guide shows how many pieces one pet can fill.
Sources and our estimates
- [1] 31% of New Zealand households have a dog, down from 34% in 2020. Companion Animals New Zealand, 2024 NZ Pet Data Report, 2024.
- [2] US dogs have an average life expectancy at birth of 12.69 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [3] 40% of New Zealand households have a cat - cats are NZ's most popular pet. Companion Animals New Zealand, 2024 NZ Pet Data Report, 2024.
- [4] US cats seen at Banfield hospitals have an average life expectancy at birth of 11.18 years. Montoya et al. 2023, Frontiers in Veterinary Science - Banfield Pet Hospital life expectancy tables (13.3 million dogs, 2.4 million cats, 2013-2019), 2023.
- [5] 69% of bodies in New Zealand were cremated in 2023, per the Funeral Directors Association of NZ. The Spinoff, citing FDANZ 2023 Funeral Industry Trends Report, 2023.
- [6] Bath Aqua Glass in England charges £170 for a pet-ashes glass pendant and £195–£240 for a pet-ashes paperweight. Bath Aqua Glass – Pets ashes into glass, 2026.
- [7] Memorials.com sells stainless steel pet-ash necklaces from $19.95, most under $30. Memorials.com – Pet ashes necklaces, 2026.
- [8] The cheapest advertised memorial diamond costs about 8 times a typical sterling silver ashes pendant. Our estimate: $995 (EverDear colorless from) / $129 (Urns.com sterling silver median). How we calculate.
- [9] An ashes pendant holds only a pinch of cremated remains (the retailer says at most about a teaspoon; most pendants hold far less), and most come with a small funnel fill kit. Memorials.com – Pet ashes necklaces, 2026.
- [10] Ashes-in-glass pet memorials use only about 1/8 to 1/2 teaspoon of ashes. Funeral.com – Ashes in Glass for Pets, 2026.
Tell us what you'd like to wear
Tell us what you need and where you are. We'll reply by email with clear options and prices so you can decide in your own time.