Elton John, the legendary piano pop icon known for his flamboyant style and penchant for all things that sparkle, has once again surprised fans with his latest and most personal pieces of jewelry. Featured in a new documentary short titled Elton John — Touched by Gold, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer delves into his lifelong connection with gold, describing it as a "timeless" metal that can manifest as simple elegance, ravishing adornment, or even overwhelming grandeur. For an artist whose life is metaphorically gilded with gold records and countless golden awards, this precious metal has, in many ways, come to define his existence.

In the documentary, John articulates gold's enduring presence throughout history, noting, “It’s been there since the world began and it’s been used in all sorts of ways.” This deep appreciation for the metal culminates in a truly astonishing revelation midway through the short film: John has transformed one of his most painful personal experiences into gleaming, one-of-a-kind keepsake jewelry. Following the removal of both his kneecaps—the left one first, then the right—John made an unusual request to his surgeon, who was reportedly quite startled. He then contacted London jewelry designer Theo Fennell with a proposition: to create something unique from his removed kneecaps.

Fennell, embracing the challenge, embarked on a meticulous process to prepare the biological material. He explains, “We baked them. We had to bake them to dry them out. Then they get rather like pumice stone, they’re very porous. So we had to paint them with acetate and then just polish them up.” The designer expressed immense satisfaction with the outcome, showcasing the finished pieces to John, who was equally delighted with the unusually beautiful results. “That is amazing,” John exclaimed upon seeing the necklace crafted from a fragment of his right kneecap bone, adding, “That one, that’s the right kneecap. That’s my right patella.”

John, now 78, recalled his surgeon's remark that he had “the worst knees he’s ever operated on.” The necklace itself features a visible hole where Fennell threaded the chain, which was also crafted out of bones. John mused that the piece “looks like an old artifact from Egypt or something,” a sentiment echoed by Fennell who describes it as “talismanic.” Fennell expressed the profound significance of his creation: “I love doing things that, in a thousand years, this will be, as it says here, this will be Elton John’s kneecap. How many people will believe that? I don’t know.” The back of the charm bears a Latin phrase, “I will no longer bow to any man,” a detail Fennell notes with irony, given John’s literal inability to bow without his kneecaps.

For the smaller left kneecap, with less material to work with, Fennell fashioned a brooch. John, reflecting on these extraordinary creations, confidently stated, “I honestly think these are timeless pieces that will last for centuries.” This unique jewelry adds another chapter to John’s candid discussions about his health. Last year at the New York Film Festival, while promoting his Elton John: Never Too Late documentary, he shared a comprehensive list of his removed body parts: “To be honest with you, there’s not much of me left. I don’t have tonsils, adenoids or an appendix. I don’t have a prostate. I don’t have a right hip or a left knee or a right knee. In fact, the only thing left to me is my left hip. But I’m still here.” These remarkable pieces of jewelry serve as a testament to his resilience and unique artistic vision.