Jewelry is weighted with meaning. Dare I say, if jewelry could talk, each piece would convey the story of how your personal jewelry drawer became their home.
Our emotional attachment to our jewelry is laced with an assortment of emotions and memories ranging from love, joy, friendship, good luck, a birthday or anniversary, achievements, a gift from a child or grand to memories of a loved one. I think our passion for our jewelry and its sentimental meaning tends to grow deeper each year for women over fifty.
A Few Sentimental Pieces of Mine
For example, my red string bracelet, with its seven knots, is a piece I never take off my wrist because I believe it guards and protects me. I am attached to my beautiful French bracelet that I was not going to own until a girlfriend pushed me into the shop to buy it. Every time I put on the bracelet it is laced with a memory of friendship. This simple red circle, a piece of yarn tied to my wrist, represents strength and love.
I glance down at my keyboard and notice my two red strings tied onto my left wrist. Emotions grab me; one string promises hope and survival, the other string, gifted to me by a grandson, promises joy.
My emotional attachment to these simple pieces of stringed jewelry cannot be matched by any other piece of jewelry in my jewelry drawer except my gold wedding band my husband, Sheldon Good, placed on my finger on our wedding day and my Hermes bracelet collection.
How A Hermes Bangle Came To Represent Gratitude… & Good Health
My collection of Hermes bracelets is a reminder of my blessing. I believe in Karma, and I believe I am alive today because of fate. I am a cancer survivor. My cancer was found because of luck.
For the past ten years, since my diagnosis and surgery, I have had to emotionally endure a multitude of cat scans. My husband has accompanied me to every appointment.
Each visit to the CAT scan floor, followed by an elevator ride to the 7th floor for a visit with my surgeon for the results, for me, was and is a terrifying experience. Actually, I begin getting terrified the month before the scan, lying in bed each night telling my ultimate concierge, “I am terrified!”
The Gift That Brought With It Peace of Mind And Survival!
After passing with flying colors the first cat scan of now more than twenty, my husband decided we should celebrate. I remember he wanted to take me to a certain restaurant. By chance, we walked by the Hermes shop. He admired a bracelet in the window. He would do this on occasion… see something I had not noticed and decided that I should have it.
That day he picked out my first Hermes bracelet. He put it on my wrist and said, “This bracelet has meaning. It is full circle with no breaks. We are forever together on your journey.”
This began a custom. After each successful CAT scan, he would march me over to the Hermes shop, choose a bracelet with my input, at times, and then take me out for lunch to celebrate my survival or as he would say, “our survival.”
I am emotionally attached to my jewelry collection of Hermes bracelets, wearing one almost every day or night. Each one is weighted with overpowering emotional feelings. Love. Survival. Hope, Gratitude.
How The Gift Of Jewelry Lives On
If you have pieces of sentimental jewelry you no longer want to wear, please gift them to your daughters or grands. My mother gave me two of my father’s watches. I love them and wear them often.
I have my favorite great aunt’s pin. Wearing it has a double meaning. I loved her and I love the idea she wanted me to have her jewelry. Since then, I have also given my daughters jewelry their father, my late husband, gave me.
I believe these types of keepsakes are part of one’s family heritage. Do you? To me, each piece shares a story. I suggest you pass each down with your memory of the presentation and reason for the gift in a verbal or written story… that gives the gift its true value.
What pieces of jewelry have the most sentimental value to you?
Have you experienced how something physical, such as a ring or bracelet, can provide mental fortitude in tough times?
What keepsakes do you have from your family and what pieces do you plan to pass along for generations?
Please share your thoughts on your beloved pieces of jewelry either in the comments below or on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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My husband gave me a new diamond ring when we were on a dinner cruise on the Seine. We were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. When my dear mother passed away, I received her diamond band that my dad gave her for their 50th anniversary. I treasure it and the memories of my parents.
We are fortunate to have memories of love from husbands and parents and grandparents. And, we especially fortunate when we are grateful. Warmly, Honey
you have one heck of a husband. who would think of anything so lovely. what a treasure.
I do and that is why I refer to him as my ultimate concierge and my best ‘girlfriend’ and he is very masculine. He is just a gem. Warmly, Honey
My most precious piece of jewelry is my Grams 18 carat gold wedding band. Our fingers were the same size and I wear it every day (she passed away at age 93). She had told me that I could have the ring long before she passed away. My aunt was the oldest daughter and got the ring, however, she gave it to me and said “I know Grandma wanted you to have this”. It will always be my most special piece.
What a special story. I am touched. You wear it every day and your Aunt knew it was meant for you. Warmly, Honey
My Mother’s pearls and my great aunt’s diamond engagement ring. My mother pased when I was 22 but my aunt and i had many more years together. As one of my daughters said “she was your Mom after your Mom pased cause you still needed one. The ring from her NYC husband in the 1920s. I have worn it since it was brought to me by my neice in the late 1980s. In 2011 my husband and I were involved in a terrible car accident . We survived but when I looked at my finger the ring was there but not the stone. My husband and and son in law searched the car the next day at the car lot. The car had bed towed, it was total loss, it was full of shattered glass fragments. They could not find the diamond. That night I showed my husband pictures of what an old mine cut diamond would look like. He returned to the car lot the next day and found the diamond on the dashboard of my car among all the glass. He simply put it in a ppaper cup and went to his office. He brought me the cup when he came home that evening. He had written on the cup “not trash”. The man is a gem and I still have him, the diamond and the paper cup to this day.
What a wonderful story. You have two gems and a wonderful memory. You both survived. Your gem of a husband found your keepsake stone. I am happy for you. Warmly, Honey
Such a lovely article, I enjoyed reading it very much. It’s these sweet gestures of others that helps us get through tough times. Your husband is a shining star.
I have many favorite pieces of jewelry. The beautiful earrings I received from London from my mom when I was 12. The pieces I bought for myself for my birthday holds meaning for me . . . because I saw them, loved them and then bought them! I went through a tough year, I bought something for myself. My partner, who isn’t a jewelry-giving guy going out and buying two little charms for my bracelet, which I adore. All my pieces have meaning to them.
Jewelry is so sentimental when given with the gesture of love. And, it is meaningful when we chose something we love. Only different. Warmly, Honey