Thanks everyone. Grandma's had her funeral now so is at rest. I was unable to attend due to a current mental health course I'm attending (which my grandma would have deemed far more important than her funeral), however I made a card to go with her flowers that included John 14:27 inside. I then later found out Grandma had chose the exact same verse to be read out during her service (she'd planned the whole thing), which we thought was such an amazing coincidence, so I'm feeling very happy and very much at peace with it all.
I've decided to go ahead and put the money in a high interest savings account for the time being, unless our accountant has a good tip for another investment oppourtunity. Volkswagon shares are probably quite cheap at the moment lol!
I'm going to save ~10% for a purchase in memory of my grandma, but instead of buying a brand like VCA (even pre owned), I'm going to design something myself and have it custom made.
So far the ideas floating around are 18k rose gold, a fitted bagle, a solid gold rose, a few mother of pearl petals, a few yellow gold petals (using gold from jewellery she bequeathed to me), green gold leaves (for that beautiful, organic Black Hills Gold look which I really enjoy). Perhaps some white gold vines or tendrils using left over 18k from my old engagement ring, and possibly some smaller roses either side of the main one with my children's birthstones in the center (I'll source those myself).
It's a big project, but I've found jewellers in the UK who are working with these shapes and mediums, and I'll get a LOT more gold and craftmanship for my money. It will be a real heirloom piece and intensely personal. I want something I will adore looking at. Inside I want engraved the first line from the bible verse we both chose: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you" and then I think that will round it all off very nicely
I'm so sorry for your loss.
If you are thinking about custom and it "retaining" the value, basically all the money you spend on craftmanship will be "wasted" as you won't be able to recoup any of that on the resale market. Pple will only pay for scrap value. I understand your original sentiment of wanting a "brand" item, it encapsulates much more than just a name and represents history and legacy.
Since your grandma left you some gold pieces, how about thinking of weighing them and see how much you can sell them for (probably scrap value), and then with your 10% think about a small brand piece you could get? For £1000 + scrap gold value I think you might be able to get something nice pre-owned. Perhaps a cartier trinity ring, or some Vca sweets earrings or sweets bracelet?