Britt’s Pick: Kimberly Doyle’s UFO Pocket Pal Pendant

By Brittany Siminitz | June 30, 2026

Los Angeles–based jeweler Kimberly Doyle is the perfect example of an independent designer who knows how to have fun with her craft. Whether it’s a rainbow tennis bracelet, a heart-shape opal, or a Cracker Jack charm, every handcrafted piece by Doyle carries an unmistakable sense of joy and care.

I thought nothing could top Doyle’s viral Gemagotchi charms for whimsy and nostalgia. Inspired by Tamagotchi—those digital pocket pets from Japan that became a full-blown phenomenon in the late 1990s—Doyle’s miniature treasures are available in an array of sizes, shapes, and gemstones.

I wear an emerald Gemagotchi on my wrist every day, and it transports me back to that era: an adolescent me sitting in a Pizza Hut with my mom or my soccer team as faint beeping from the Tamagotchis filled the restaurant; how that electronic chirping was another classroom distraction for teachers to tackle. The good old days.

But now back to the present—when Doyle, with her seemingly endless creativity and drive for innovative design, has outdone herself. Doyle’s latest creation, the second in her line of Pocket Pal pendants, is a kinetic work of art that’s truly out of this world.

To anyone passing by, the pendant looks like just a polished golden egg. Open it up, however, and an entire world awaits there—or, more accurately, a meeting of two worlds.

Kimberley Doyle Pocket Pal closed — *The egg-shape exterior of Kimberly Doyle’s new Pocket Pal pendant*

Inside, the two hinged halves present a scene straight out of ’90s pop culture. A UFO, rendered with a custom-cut peridot, shines its gold and beaded rays onto the field below, where—what else?—a cow is caught mid-abduction. A discreet mechanism along the side of the pendant animates the scene, bringing the tiny extraterrestrial encounter to life (see it in action on the designer’s Instagram).

“I drew inspiration for this piece from one of my fondest childhood toys. I wanted it to have three key elements: It captured a scene kind of like a snow globe, it had to be 3D, and there was some kind of movement within the scene,” Doyle says. “This particular idea for a UFO scene came to me quite easily because it was such an iconic subject for a lot of people growing up in the ’90s.”

While the concept came easily, the engineering did not.

“I spent so much time researching and engineering different little gears and components for movements,” the designer tells JCK. “At a certain point, I just needed to step away for a while. In the end, the mechanism I went with is so simple and straightforward—it’s so funny how sometimes we like to overcomplicate things.

“I’d say, on and off, it’s been bouncing around in my head for a year,” Doyle says of Pocket Pal #2’s creation.

The year of tinkering paid off. Equal parts nostalgia, craftsmanship, and playful storytelling, the pendant proves that some of the industry’s most memorable jewels don’t take themselves too seriously.

Top: The interior scene of the Pocket Pal UFO pendant, in 14k yellow gold with custom-cut peridot, $3,500; Kimberly Doyle