Favourite items of jewellery and memories

I love jewellery and probably picked this up from my mother. As she would often say the best presents come in small packages. She adored antique jewellery such as that available from Carus Jewellery. I would regularly get her earrings for her birthday or Christmas. Her eyes would light up which was a joy to see. She always kept the smaller gifts until last to unwrap knowing they were likely to be jewellery. She  loved gold and garnets in particular. Jewellery is often a present which means that when you wear something you remember that person and a special occasion. Here are 5 favourite items of jewellery that mean the world to me.

Turquoise and silver ring

My father bought me this on a holiday in France. I was in my young teens and felt that having a ring made me a real woman. I spent the whole holiday staring at it. It was a silver ring fashioned ornately with a turquoise stone in the centre. I adored my dad and I loved that this was his gift to me. Other rings followed to mark engagements, a marriage and other milestones. The first one still matters most to me.

Sapphire earrings

I had my ears pierced for my tenth birthday. My parents insisted on me going to the top jeweller in town for this to be done. That was the expensive option but they wanted to ensure I was treated in a safe environment. I wore gold sleepers initially. Mum would not let me wear anything but gold which used to frustrate me at the time. However, I have to admit that I never had any problems unlike school friends who wore cheaper versions. Dad bought me the most beautiful gold drop sapphire earrings one Christmas. Sadly on the day I left school one was lost in the revelry as foam was squirted. I never quite got over losing it.

Statement necklace

My parents bought me a really clunky statement necklace when I was trying to get my identity back following post-natal depression. It is silver with a big orange stone in the centre. I have always loved the colour orange. I wore this necklace so many times when I was wobbling a bit in the confidence department such as at job interviews and blogging events. It helped massively so this will always be a much-loved item.

Wedding ring

This one makes me giggle. When we got married we planned in great detail and made it very much our own unique day. There were individual meals for the adults and children. There were party bags and bubbles. I asked my groom to wear a cream suit. My son was my best man with my daughter as bridesmaid and my other son as page-boy. Literally a couple of days before the wedding my mum asked what my wedding ring was like. We had completely forgotten about rings! We were out of budget so ended up getting cheap and cheerful Celtic ones from Ebay. Sometimes we have to compromise on our favourite items of jewellery.

Watch

My mum died in September 2009. We visited Dad in the following December for my birthday. He handed over a a small package and said that this was from my mum. She had things planned so that I would not be without a gift from her. She had chosen something that was so very much to my taste. It is a big Eightie’s style watch in different shades of brown and I love it.

Do you have any favourite items of jewellery? What stories lie behind them?