Where Bloggers Live: Timeless Treasures: My Favorite Jewelry
Welcome to the monthly edition of Where Bloggers Live. It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes and lives? Every month a group of six bloggers share their work-spaces, homes, towns, and more!
This month we’re sharing our favorite jewelry, jewelry collections, thoughts on jewelry ALL THE JEWELRY THINGS.
I am not really a big jewelry person. My interest in jewelry over my lifetime has ebbed and flowed…it is currently extremely low. It’s been months since I’ve put on even one piece of jewelry.
I like looking at it. I like thinking about having it. But right now the cost just doesn’t…seem worth it to me.
But I HAVE quite a bit of jewelry, ha ha. OF COURSE I DO. It’s mostly inherited or leftover from ebay-selling days.
I wish I had pictures of all my mother’s jewelry. She had a big drawer of just costume jewelry that was SO FUN to look through. She was especially fond of those 1960s enameled flower pins like this…
She probably had just about that many, too. I wish I’d saved one or two for myself. I think they went to cousins who had young children, cuz boy are they fun to look through and play with.
One of my biggest jewelry losses was…after she passed away, I used to wear my mother’s wedding band all the time. It had five diamonds across the front, SORT OF like this…but in gold…
UNTIL…one fateful evening at yoga class…when I took off my ring and watch for a hot yoga class and left them in my bag in an unlocked cubby. I buckled the watch through the ring so they were as one.
The next day I realized both were missing. I checked my bag, the car, I went back to the yoga studio and spoke with several people, checked the changing room and the parking lot. Gone.
I was more upset about the ring as that had an emotional connection…but I was also upset about my 1940s Hamilton tank watch that I had saved up for for ages and didn’t have that long before losing it with the ring. It looked like this (but mine was in better condition)…
However, my loss is NOTHING compared to my mother’s missing jewelry fiasco. We used to go to Ocean City, Maryland every year and my mother was always worried about what was going on in the house while we were away…did she turn off the stove? Did she unplug the iron? Did she lock the back door? She always stopped the newspaper and mail deliveries while we were gone so they wouldn’t pile up and announce to the world that the house was vacant COME ON IN AND TAKE WHAT YOU WANT. She was concerned about burglars.
One year (and I only remember her doing this the one time) she planned to outsmart any would-be burglars and she wrapped her BEST jewelry up in a plastic bag, rolled it up in newspaper, and hid it in the kitchen trash can under a top layer of trash.
We had a lovely week in Ocean City, then came back and resumed our normal lives. Going to school, mowing the lawn, cooking dinner, taking out the trash…
Only the next day did she realize that the trash that had gone out held all her good jewelry…and it had already been picked up with the trash collection. She called the the city, the dump, she spoke with the garbage men at the following pick-up…but that diamond-encrusted ship had SAILED and that jewelry was never seen again.
That was a tough loss.
A very fun jewelry and accessory collection that I inherited from her was all the vintage rhinestones. She kept them (as I still do!) in this vintage lucite box purse that was popular in the 50s. I remember as a child being so thrilled when she would allow me to unwrap each of the pieces and admire them.
I have some other nice jewelry memories. When I was younger my mother and I used to take the train to spend summers with her family in Los Angeles. The first leg of the 3-day trip was overnight from NY to Chicago. One time we had a full-day layover in Chicago so we left the station and walked around the city a bit for some lunch and window-shopping…and my mother bought me my first strand of pearls. I still have them…
The second leg of the journey was 2 nights from Chicago to LA…and we went through Albuquerque, NM where the train stopped for about an hour and the whole station was filled with Indian women selling their wares on blankets on the ground: silver and turquoise jewelry, dolls, and other handmade arts and crafts. Each year she’d buy me one additional piece of silver or turquoise, so by the time I was in my early 20s I had a nice collection of this sort of jewelry. Over the years most of the pieces have left me – either getting lost, broken, or sold…but I still have my favorite chunky turquoise necklace.
My aunt recently gave me this ring that had been my mother’s. I need to have it sized down as I’m afraid to wear it and have it slip off my finger. I would enjoy wearing a ring of hers again.
One more jewelry collection that is really Katie’s, not mine, is her Christmas stocking full of vintage Christmas tree brooches. Since she was young, each year I buy one more, and add it to her stocking and she doesn’t get to see it til Christmas morning when we open our gifts.
I think I most enjoy jewelry with emotion attached, that came to me as gifts, or that I inherited from family members, or that have a story.
Make sure to check out my friends’ jewelry stories today, too:
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own
Laurie E
I love this post and the stories that go with each piece of jewelery. Brought back memories that go with the few pieces I have. I have pieces from my mother that I know the stories to, and some my recently found bio sister sent me after our biological mother died. Love seeing what she collected. I hope that my children enjoy the stories that are handed down to them some day.
bettyewp
“and some my recently found bio sister sent me after our biological mother died” OH WOW. What a gift that is!
Penny
Wow, love the rhinestones collection and the stories about your mother – the trash can….!!! And on a completely different tack I’ve seen an exhibition at the Victoria & Albert museum you would adore. It was all about South Korea and absolutely mind-blowing. I’ve been twice and loved it each time https://www.vam.ac.uk/exhibitions/hallyu-the-korean-wave
bettyewp
Ooh, going to visit that Korean exhibit today (well, you know, virtually), thanks so much for sharing that!
xoxo
Chris jargowsky
The story of your moms jewelry still gets me every time. I still wear my moms necklace everyday. I absolutely adore your tradition of a vintage piece for Kate’s stocking, very sweet.
bettyewp
🥰
Lisa Elliott
My mom died when I was 15 and I have a couple of pieces of her costume jewelry. Every once in a while, I get it out just to look at it and think of her! What a story about the jewelry in the trash can!!
bettyewp
Same. I don’t need to wear it I just like having it and every once in a while, I go through the boxes and bags and certain pieces make me have memories and like that.
Iris
Well, I thoroughly enjoyed your post. Vintage jewelry has always had a big place in my heart. Thanks for sharing some of you mother’s and some of your stories. I had forgotten about that little dragonfly pin – that was really a long time ago. I don’t think I’ve ever had any stolen – I can only imagine how that would hurt. I do love all the memories attached to some of them. I loved your pearls – I have some that my mother gave me. Memories, memories – the older I get the more I treasure them.’
Iris
bettyewp
As we get older, our memory collection only grows greater and more precious. Well, what we CAN remember, anyway 🙂
Sally in St Paul
Sentimental jewelry is the best jewelry. The trash can story…OMG, I feel gut-punched just hearing about it. I also feel for you losing that ring and watch. My mom has passed on several of her pieces to me, which I do wear (none of them are as fancy as that rhinestone collection, for example!), and I always think of her when I do. It would be cool for you to wear that ring of your mom’s; until you get it resized, I wonder if a ring snuggie thing would work so you could start wearing it sooner.
bettyewp
The ring is actually too small. I can only wear it on my pinky right now (which wouldn’t be my choice) and it’s a little loose there. I need to have it enlarged so I can wear it on my ring finger.
Who decided which finger would be The Ring Finger??
jodie
My mom still has a bunch of those rhinestone jewelry pieces, and they are fabulous.
That story about your mom’s jewelry just has me floored. OMG, I couldn’t imagine.
But I do love the sentimental items too. I have a bunch of my aunt’s pieces and my dad’s rings and tie clips. If I outlive my mother, I won’t know what to do with all of hers, because she has as much as I do, haha.
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
PS. that ring of your aunts could be worn as a pendant on a necklace. Granted, you need a necklace…
bettyewp
I think rhinestone jewelry was my first jewelry love as a child. It’s so SPARKLY! I remember feeling so disappointed a little later in life when I realized rhinestones weren’t as valuable as diamonds…that they were sort of like the poor man’s diamond…but that didn’t dilute my love for them. I still think they’re beautiful.
Whoa, inheriting all your mother’s clothing, accessories, and jewlery?!? You’re gonna need a bigger boat.
xoxo
Daenel T.
I equally love and hate this post. I love the stories and the sentimentality but hate that the pieces are no longer with you. The pieces you do have are absolutely lovely. I also didn’t realize that you and Iris have been connected that long.
bettyewp
Yeah, Iris and I go way back, by internet terms. Back in the early 2000s, we both belonged to several ebay Yahoo groups together (remember Yahoo groups? I loved and miss them), one group after another would go under or we’d be kicked out by some weirdo leader (ha ha) and we eventually found ourselves in a group called The Dock (“Sittin’ on the Dock of Ebay” ha ha) with a core group of maybe 20-30 people who’d been selling on ebay and chatting with another for several years.
This group became like family – while we’d all come together under a shared umbrella of “ebay seller,” soon we were sharing all elements of our lives…good news and bad…successes and losses…it was like our “water cooler/after work drinks” place. It was a really really nice group.
Eventually we all sort of scattered as our lives moved us away from ebay, but we do still have a Facebook group (we had to go somewhere after the sad demise of Yahoo Groups (RIP) but it’s never been the same as our incessant daily chatter (MAN can I write some long emails ha ha) and support for one another.
And yeah, the name of my ebay shop was Dragonfly Vintage Clothing. I don’t recall if she made that beaded dragonfly pin for some occasion (birthday?) or just cuz…but…I keep it with my jewelry and am always reminded of her friendship and my whole Dock family every time I come across it.
xoxo
Em D
Sometimes I feel like such a creeper reading your posts…because I need more and then read everyone’s comments to you like a crazy stalker… There’s always so much depth, whether in the pictures or the stories or the items you write about… I can see why/how your Dock (of eBay 🤣) group could become so close, especially with all your shared experiences. Anywho…the stories of jewelry losses…WHOA… struck such a chord. My former neighbor…who had quite a collection of lovely things was showering and when finished discovered her toddler had been–one by one–inserting the contents of her jewelry case into the heat duct in her floor, That was an expensive HVAC repair visit, to be sure! But your mom accidentally throwing it all out? I feel a little woozy just thinking of it. And your gym loss stung…I felt that for you… and then was reminded of a very unique and beloved watch from my grammar school days…not very expensive but also not replaceable that was stolen by a classmate during gym. Grr…
Still adore your stocking brooch tradition with Katie!!! And I am all about the rhinestone collections… BEAUTIFUL and the value of the stories are better to me than the market value of diamonds.
bettyewp
Hey, the internet was made BY and FOR creepers 🙂
Oh no, the heating duct?? Ha ha! Expensive, but at least retrievable. I know how I felt last month when I SOMEHOW managed to throw out TWO SEPERATE PACKS of my covid medicine (wtf bettye!), and that is teeny tiny finger potatoes compared to my mother’s loss.
Yeah, I can’t even remember how I came up with the Christmas tree pin idea. It’s just probably that *I* covetted them, but couldn’t justify buying them for myself so THEY’RE FOR MY CHILD! MY CHILD!
This is the first year the stocking is not actually in my possession…it got left at Katie’s last year cuz we did Christmas down there. I have this years pin already, though. After awhile, it’s hard to find pretty ones that aren’t too similar to what we already has.
When The Last Boyfriend seemed like he might stick, I made HIM a stocking, too..and he got two year’s worth of vintage Rudolph pins 🙂 He left it behind when he departed…but I feel weird about just rolling it over to the NEXT boyfriend, so…we’ll see.
Anyway, EM! YOU’VE MADE THE BIG TIME! YOU CAME TO ACTUAL COMMENTS AND DID NOT GO INTO THE TRASH!!! WOOHOO!
Leslie Susan Clingan
What an enjoyable read. And your photos are so pretty. Glad you included that kitty, I am bedazzled with kitty fur from head to toe like it is the best bling!! Your baby is too beautiful to not be included in a post about sparkly things.
Love your chunky turquoise necklace and the story about your train trips and cross-country jewelry acquisitions. Cannot imagine your mother’s reaction after realizing the trash had gone out with her precious jewels. My mom was very similar in her preparations and worry before and during our family vacations. She hid things in the freezer. As far as I know, we never lost anything.
Katie’s stocking is a real keepsake. My aunt made me a velvet stocking when I was in 4th grade. She attached several brooches and little decorative buttons that have all become worse for wear after 50+ Christmases. I was going to toss the stocking this year, but I think I will start collecting brooches to create something I hope will be as special as Katie’s stocking.
bettyewp
I think Madison was gone before you joined our WBL group. He was our Puffy Man.
Wait! No! Stop! Don’t do it! Don’t throw out your velvet stocking! I can’t bear it 🙁 Please tell me you kept it and will patch it up.
Joni
I had that same Hamilton watch! It was a gift and needed help getting up and running again so I took it to a watch repair person. He rubbed all the markings off the front which was very irritating considering that it was a detail I loved. It worked for a year or two but stopped running and I never repaired it again. So sorry to read you lost yours.
bettyewp
Oh they’re such beautiful watches! What markings did he run off? From the face?? Ugh!!!
Abdul
Love the vintage enamel flower pins collection! It’s great that you have inherited so many treasures. Have you ever considered incorporating these pieces into your current wardrobe, perhaps through modern pairings with clothes?
bettyewp
I have done that in various phases of my life, depending on how I’m dressing at that time. And it was a fun part of my wardrobe. Maybe I’ll be there sometime again!
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!