August Light Green Steel Keepsake

The August stone here reads pale green rather than deep emerald, set into a small square of stainless steel about five eighths of an inch on each side. Steel keeps that color honest over years of wear; it will not warm or yellow the way plated pieces do.

Think of the inside as a symbolic amount. A screw top lifts off the back and the well underneath takes what you could fit on the end of a teaspoon, which is the point: several family members can each carry a little while the ashes themselves stay in one urn. Work over a folded sheet of paper so nothing is lost, then close the top by hand until it stops.

• Screw top opening, filled by hand at home
• Stainless steel, safe in water and easy to clean
• Square rather than round, so it sits flat in a memory box without rolling