-- Heirloom jewelry circa 1940's to 1960's --
As a kid growing up, I learned about the four C's shortly after I learned my ABC's.
As a kid growing up, I learned about the four C's shortly after I learned my ABC's.
My late mom's love affair with jewelries is like mine with shoes: we hoarded them by the dozen. It never failed to amuse the entire family on how she stored (hid) them in inconspicuous places like inside a coffee jar in the kitchen cupboard, in the bathroom next to the Cloroxes and cleaning agents, and sometimes even inside the fridge! She reasoned out that it would be the last place a thief would go to and look. To which my brother, without fail, would sarcastically blurt out the possibility of the thief getting thirsty or needing to use the bathroom.
She justified her collection by saying that one day, it will save the family. And true enough, it did on several occasion. One of her solid gold coin pendants (from the 1890's) rescued us from an emergency, another sent some of us through College.
Her other reasoning for collecting is quite silly. She said that in case our hubbies could not afford to give us any of the "girl's best friend", at least we'd still have something! And so she had four engagement-style rings made for all four of her daughters.
She accumulated a lot over her lifetime that even after dividing it among my 4 sisters and 4 sisters-in-law after she was gone, I still got a handful. At first, I told them that I'm not taking any because I'm really not into jewelries. But they insisted I should because it's heirloom and there are memories attached to each piece telling the family's story. So I carefully selected those that are the oldest in her collection with the most intricate handcrafted detailing. It's something jewelers no longer do now.
Among us siblings, only one of my sisters followed suit in the same love affair with blings. We always give her a hard time that it's not good to be wearing a luxury sedan on one's ring finger. As for me, I probably will never be a jewelry kinda gal but I can't wait to pass on what small I've go to a special little girl someday, tell her the story about each piece and the special lady that collected them all.
She justified her collection by saying that one day, it will save the family. And true enough, it did on several occasion. One of her solid gold coin pendants (from the 1890's) rescued us from an emergency, another sent some of us through College.
Her other reasoning for collecting is quite silly. She said that in case our hubbies could not afford to give us any of the "girl's best friend", at least we'd still have something! And so she had four engagement-style rings made for all four of her daughters.
She accumulated a lot over her lifetime that even after dividing it among my 4 sisters and 4 sisters-in-law after she was gone, I still got a handful. At first, I told them that I'm not taking any because I'm really not into jewelries. But they insisted I should because it's heirloom and there are memories attached to each piece telling the family's story. So I carefully selected those that are the oldest in her collection with the most intricate handcrafted detailing. It's something jewelers no longer do now.
Among us siblings, only one of my sisters followed suit in the same love affair with blings. We always give her a hard time that it's not good to be wearing a luxury sedan on one's ring finger. As for me, I probably will never be a jewelry kinda gal but I can't wait to pass on what small I've go to a special little girl someday, tell her the story about each piece and the special lady that collected them all.
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