The story of our mermaid
KARREK jewellery is made to tell your story. But before you hear the stories held within your own keepsake, we think it’s important to know the story that inspired our mermaid.
The KARREK mermaid is inspired by the famous tale of the Mermaid of Zennor — a story rooted in one of Cornwall’s most beautiful and mysterious coastal villages.
The story tells of a beautiful mermaid who would sit patiently at the back of Zennor Church, listening to a young man singing in the choir. Over time, the two fell in love. One day, he joined her, and together they walked arm in arm down the valley towards the sea, disappearing from the village without a trace.
Years passed before anyone learned what had become of him.
One day, a passing ship anchored in the cove. The crew heard a strange wailing coming from below and, looking overboard, saw a beautiful woman with long flowing hair and piercing green eyes.“Haul up your anchor,” she called. “It is blocking the door to my home beneath the sea. My husband and children are trapped within.”
The crew raised the anchor and asked the mermaid the name of her husband. To their astonishment, she gave the name of the young man who had disappeared from Zennor all those years before.
At last, the village had an answer to the mystery of where he had gone.
Neither the mermaid nor her husband was ever seen again. But their story remains, carved into the famous mermaid seat in Zennor Church — a beautiful figure with flowing hair, her tail curling beneath her.
Cornwall is full of mermaid stories. Many tell of dark nights, wild seas and men being lured beneath the waves. But the Mermaid of Zennor is different.
Her story is one of love and family. She did not lure her husband away. She simply came to save the family she loved.
And that is the part of the story that feels so very KARREK.
Because behind every piece we make is a family story of its own — something precious, something deeply loved, something worth keeping close.
Our mermaid is a little nod to that: love, family and the stories we carry with us.