Jewelry (and family pieces)

I don’t feel any particular attachment to pieces unless I also just really love the piece itself.

For example, I’ve neve worn any of my mother’s rings (including her wedding ring) that she left to me. I have no desire to have them sized or wear them. On the other hand, I just got a gorgeous pair of 1950s rhinestone costume jewelry earrings that belong to my grandmother. They’re beautiful, I love them, and I wear them all the time. But I don’t have any memories of her wearing them and don’t particularly associate them with her. I just like the earrings.

I guess what I’m saying is the piece matters more to me than the memories when it comes to actually wearing/wanting the jewelry.

My mom had diamonds. My brothers each received a big diamond for engagement rings. (Those didn't last.- One was sold for a boat.) I received her wedding bands, earrings, toilet scrubbing ring, and necklace. All of these pieces my dad had made for my mom. None of them were store purchases. The toilet scrubbing ring (what she called it) was really gaudy and I had it made into a ring that mimics my wedding ring. I get compliments on them all of the time. The necklace was engraved with their wedding date, her diamond wedding band was a 30 year anniversary gift given early because they thought she had cancer. Her earrings are just unlike any others I have seen, and even though the diamonds are small, they are pretty. (So pretty in fact, my dog mistook them for a piece of popcorn.) I completely cherish all of her pieces, but I know that since I only have boys, it might stop with me. I have a ton of costume jewelry from both my mom and grandma, I haven't been able to give away the nicer pieces, but I never wear them.

I'm sure I'm not the norm, but I actually have sort of negative feelings about the jewelry I inherited.

I just this year was given my grandmother's jewelry, by my aunt. Apparently she's decluttering, doesn't want it, etc.

Well, as a little girl, my g'ma would bring out her jewelry box and piece by piece show me each ring, each necklace, etc. The emphasis was always how expensive it was, to be extremely careful with it, don't mess it up, etc. (For context, I know now she probably was in early stages of dementia, but didn't as a seven year old.)

During those visits, it just really rammed into my head that I was poor and g'ma and g'pa definitely were not. 

(And isn't that a whole nother thread. They were of a mindset that you make your life, for better or worse, and they would not apologize for being wealthy.)

So, back to the jewelry.

So now I have very nice jewelry that I was never allowed to touch, or try on when I was a kid. Stuff that I know was never meant for me to have, but just kind of fell into my lap by default. 

And I still don't feel good enough to wear it, not that it would fit anyway. 

But it's not valuable enough to sell. It's not "house down payment" valuable. But also not , wear it to the Wal-Mart in jeans, either.

I wear all my diamonds to the Wal-mart.  They fancy!  I have a five-carat diamond tennis bracelet that is so sparkly.  When my dad passed away and left us money, I saw a tennis bracelet that I thought was so pretty but not in my future.  My husband, wanting to make me happy, thought the bracelet was a good idea.  He did find it 50% off and gave it to me just because.  It was really a sweet gesture. So I don't think of it as fancy as much as a gift of love from husband who just felt a little lost in consoling his wife.  I have had to have it fixed several times because I wear the crap out of that thing.  

I would take that jewelry that you don't feel good enough to wear and change it a bit if you can or just start wearing the crap out of it if you like it.  It is yours and you should wear it.  Erase those feelings of not being good enough.  Damn, gma was harsh!

The only piece that I love that I inherited is my grandmother's wedding ring. It's not worth anything monetarily- its just a fuchsia-colored glass stone. But it's set in a beautiful filigree silver setting. I have fond memories of her wearing it everyday. She would make biscuits and get dough under the stone and I would insist on cleaning it for her-lol. When she passed away, it went to my aunt who never wore it. When my aunt passed away, that was the first thing that I looked for when we cleaned out the house.

I'm sorry you have such negative connotations with the jewelry, and your grandparents! Is it maybe "take a nice trip" valuable? You could make some positive memories to last a lifetime.

I'm glad you look at it that way.  I hope you take those pieces out this week and put them on though.  

I have 5 meaningful rings.

I received a family heirloom ring for my 16th birthday. It was purchased on the black market during ww2 for 10cigarette cases. It's got a platinum face and gold band with 5 small diamonds. It was hawked monthly to pay the bills.

I have a promise ring my now DH designed for me with our birthstones in it made in 14k white gold.

My diamond solitaire platinum engagement ring.

My platinum wedding band. Just a simple band.

And most recently as a celebration for 20years together, I had a family ring made with our 4 Borthstones in platinum (kids and us) in an infinity shape.

I wear all of these daily. Only taking off to go wakeboarding or tubing.

I have my grandmother's engagement ring from the 1940s. It's very small but pretty and I wouldn't have it reset. I wear it sometimes.

I did wonder if my mum would offer it to OH to use as an engagement ring so we would finally get married lol, but I think she realised that's not how we are.

There are few jewelry items I would care to own after my mother. She has some nice things, but I'm just not much into jewelry. Neither is my sister, and when my father gifted our mother a beautiful set of sapphire necklace and earring set a few birthdays ago, me and my sister actually argued who had to take it when she's gone. Neither of us would ever wear it.
But given the opportunity, I would take it to give to one of my DD's who has a very strong attatchment to my mother, and would treasure it.

I wear a gold band inherited from my grandmother. She was very special to me.
And I have a small hope to inherit a specific necklace from my still-living grandmother. But that is probably the only necklace she owns that does not have several gemstones (with matching rings and earrings). It does hold a sentimental value to me though.

The only jewellery I'm sentimental about are the rings my husband gave me. I'm not interested in the whole business of inheritance.

I have jewelry from my grandmother and great aunt that is mostly just sentimental to me. I wear one strand of pearls and one huge Weiss "snowflake" brooch occasionally, but the remainder is very dated.

I will get all my mama's, but the piece that really matters is her ring. She and my daddy married with a thin man's band for her purchased from a pawn shop (they basically eloped on a dare from her sister). Many years later, daddy bought her the widest, heaviest gold band her could find to say he'd marry her still. Even later he had a large (just over a carat) pear-shaped diamond set on top of the band.

Her ring size is much larger than mine so I doubt I'll ever be able to wear it as is. I have lots of ideas about how to re-purpose it, but can't imagine changing it. I would like to give the diamond to one of my boys, but I may not be able to either...