Do you have a special place that holds a special meaning for you? It might be where you grew up, where you met your partner, shared your first kiss, or welcomed your child into the world. These are the places that shape our stories — and wouldn't it be wonderful to carry a reminder of one with you every day, perhaps as a piece of jewellery?

Every spot on Earth can be identified using coordinates, and for years personalised jewellery has featured latitude and longitude to mark meaningful locations. But now, a new approach is reimagining how we remember and share places by giving every 3-metre square on the planet a unique three-word address. 

This system is especially valuable in locations where traditional addresses don't exist — such as rural areas, parkland, developing regions, or places undergoing constant change. Yet it’s just as useful in busy cities, too. 

Unlike long strings of numbers that are easy to forget or mix up, a three-word address is simple, memorable, and easy to share. It turns a set of coordinates into something personal — and transforms your special place into words you’ll never forget.

What3Words has divided the Earth’s surface into 3m x 3m grid squares, assigning each one a unique and easy-to-remember three-word address. These addresses are intentionally random and bear no relation to neighbouring squares, helping to reduce confusion. Similar-sounding addresses are placed far apart from one another, and the system is designed to account for spelling mistakes or typing errors by suggesting nearby alternatives when a search isn’t quite right. 

The three-word system was developed in 2013 by Chris Sheldrick, who came from the music industry. After repeatedly experiencing lost equipment and delayed bands struggling to find venues using traditional addresses, he recognised the need for a more precise and reliable way to pinpoint locations. Since its launch, What3Words has been adopted by major organisations around the world, with more businesses and services embracing it every day.

Have you ever lost friends at a festival, concert, or large-scale event? What3Words works offline, making it ideal for situations where mobile signals and internet access are unreliable due to high demand. Instead of vague directions like “by the second tree to the left of the stage,” you can share an exact three-word address. It also enables emergency services — including medics, security teams, and police — to quickly locate people who need help when time really matters.

In the aftermath of earthquakes, floods, and tornadoes around the world, humanitarian organisations have also been using What3Words to deliver aid more effectively. The system allows teams to drop supplies at precise locations and assess damage on a grid-by-grid basis, helping them build a clearer picture of how disasters have affected entire regions.

So how does this help in everyday life? From meeting friends in busy places with multiple entrances to navigating parks, shopping centres, or concert venues, a three-word address removes guesswork. It’s also particularly useful in new housing developments, where traditional addresses may not yet appear on sat nav systems — reducing missed deliveries and frustration.

And for something more personal, What3Words can be used to identify a location that means the world to you. Those three words can be engraved onto a piece of jewellery, allowing you to carry a reminder of your special place wherever you go. With our custom engraving option, many items in our latitude and longitude collection can be adapted to include a three-word address — for example, a bracelet engraved with the three words from where you proposed would make a truly meaningful gift.

What three words represent your special place? Leave a comment below and share your story.

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