Jewelry is weighted with meaning. I dare say, if jewelry could talk, each piece would convey the story of how their home became your personal jewelry drawer.
Our emotional attachment to our jewelry is laced with an assortment of emotions and memories – from love, joy, friendship, good luck, a birthday or anniversary, achievements, a gift from a child or grandchild 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 50.
For example, I never take off my red string bracelet with its seven knots 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.
A simple red circle, a piece of yarn tied to my wrist, represents strength and love.
When I glance down at my keyboard I notice the two red strings tied onto my left wrist. Emotions grab me because one string promises hope and survival, while the other, 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… and Good Health
My collection of Hermes bracelets is a reminder of my blessings. I believe in Karma, and I believe I am alive today because of fate. I am a cancer survivor, my cancer being discovered because of luck.
For the past 10 years, since my diagnosis and surgery, I have had to emotionally endure a multitude of CAT scans. My husband has accompanied me to every single 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 and every 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 20 – 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, and he admired a bracelet in the window. He would do this on occasion… see something I had not noticed and decide 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 – sometimes with my input – 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. I have 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 to the next generations? Please join the conversation below.