Jewelry.

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I am not a big jewel wearer.
I wear a wedding band & small hoop earrings most of the time. I have more jewelry, but not a lot more, as I am forgetful and will lose one, or misplace a ring when washing my hands or leave a brooch pinned onto a blouse & throw it in the wash.</p>

<p>My oldest doesn’t wear much jewelry either, I don’t even think she wears pierced earrings many days. My mother gave me a carved silver bracelet when I was 21 ( which was a surprise) , which I gave to D1 when she turned 18, cause I wanted to give her something special- then when D2 turned 18, the only other really special piece of jewelry I had, ( besides my wedding band) was a silver locket that H had given me about 5 years before, when we had been separated & we got back together, I didn’t really want to part with it, but I decided that makes it more special. ( & she does wear it quite a bit, with cashmere cardigans- & her nose ring)</p>

<p>My H can’t wear his wedding ring at work ( too dangerous) & it was actually damaged years ago but he has a replacement that he wears instead that is also hard to keep track of ( he doesn’t want to put it on his keyring because it would scratch)</p>

<p>I enjoy seeing other people wear jewelry- it tells something about them & it can be a conversation starter.
Ive lately become more interested, not just reading the threads on CC where I am learning alot, but lately I have been trying to learn about opals.
They are my birthstone ( I hear it is bad luck to wear them if they aren’t) & I am searching for the right pair of earrings for my anniversary.
:slight_smile:
Those were kind of random comments- but I want to hear stories about your favorite pieces of jewelry!
What do you feel lost without?
What do you think about mens jewelry?
Remember all the gold chains during the 70’s?
Would you date someone who wore a pinky ring?</p>

2

<p>A few months ago I posted devastated because I’d left my ring and my necklace from my fiance in the cleaner solution too long and they’d turned blue. I am happy to report that with exposure to open air they all returned to their normal colors and are never being cleaned again. XD </p>

<p>It’s a tradition in my family that women get a birthstone ring when they turn twelve-- a rite of passage, “you’re a woman now,” sort of thing. I have an emerald cut Ruby ring with six square diamonds, three on each side-- quite small and they are at different levels so they’re sort of like stairs leading up to the Ruby in the middle-- and it’s set in gold. I love it. When my mom took me shopping for my ring, it was at Hudson’s and it was the ONLY ring I liked but it was $600-- a bit too steep for a 12 year old-- so my mother bought it and took it to a local jeweler who custom made another one and charged us less for it, and we returned the original. I never get to wear it anymore because I now generally prefer white gold and I don’t like to mix, but it’s still definitely my favorite piece and I like to wear it for special occasions.</p>

<p>When BF wanted something to wear to correspond with my promise ring, I got him a Bulova watch with a matching inscription. :stuck_out_tongue: I like mens wedding bands but not much more than that.</p>

3

<p>For a long time I felt absolutely lost without my wedding band and my wings ring.* But as I get older these southern summers make my hands puff up a bit. At first I had my ring sized up but then I had to have it made smaller in the winter. Now I just take my rings off for a few months. In their place I wear a sterling silver ring with fake diamonds instead of my wedding band and I wear silver, fun rings on my other ring finger through out the summer. </p>

<p>I have some beautiful loose stones from Afghanistan so now I am looking at settings and I’m finding the whole process very interesting. It’s amazing how different the same stone can look in different settings. Of course, the main thing I’ve learned is that gold is too expensive right now, so I better wait a bit to get things set!</p>

<ul>
<li>miniature Naval Aviator wings made into a ring.</li>
</ul>

4

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<p>I suffer from the exact same thing (it does get hot in the south), so I have a ‘fake’ diamond ring I often wear on my left hand. I don’t think hubby has ever noticed. :)</p>

<p>I was never a big jewelry wearer but over the last 5 years I’ve really gotten in to it and now have a lot of costume jewelry. I feel like it completes my outfits.</p>

<p>I do have a fair amount of sentiment jewelry. I often buy meaningful pieces when we travel. I have a diamond cross I bought at the Vatican (not real diamonds). A pink petal pendant (not sure what it’s made of) I got in Greenwich Village the first time I visited NYC. A ‘northern light’ pendant (beautiful green and purple stone) in Alaska. A Faberge egg pendant in Russia. My husband has also given me a few nice pieces for major anniversaries.</p>

5

<p>A few months ago, I bought a station (tin cup) necklace of gray pearls on a silver strand. </p>

<p>I love it. It looks good with many outfits, including some that are too casual for a full string of pearls.</p>

<p>My son actually makes men’s jewelry as a hobby – chains of various complicated types. He has all kinds of nasty-looking tools for the purpose. I think he’s sold a few necklaces, although he makes them mostly for himself.</p>

6

<p>When my wife and I were married in 1979, I didn’t have the money to buy her an engagement ring. We were engaged for 3 months before the wedding and her mother, for the entire 3 months, continuously commented about the lack of a ring. A year after we were married, while still enduring my mother in-law’s comments, my wife needed a new car. We bought a new Chevy Citation for $5000. On the way home from the dealer’s I suggested we stop at my in-laws. When we arrived, I told my wife to wait in the car and I went to their door. My mother in-law answered and I asked her if she wanted to come out to see my wife’s new $5000 engagement ring. With a big smile on her face, out she came. When she got to the car, my wife rolled down her window, pointed to the car and said “How do you like my new engagement ring.” All her mother could do was sputter and run back into the house. For the longest time, that Citation was indeed our favorite piece of jewelry - at least until I could afford to buy her a real engagement ring.</p>

7

<p>Funny story about jewelry. A number of years ago, DH and I were invited to a black tie event. I had NOTHING to wear, but had a good friend who frequently attended black tie affairs. I went to her house for advice on what to purchase for a dress. She was terrific. She advised me to get something simple but elegant…either a velvet (it was winter), or silk, in a solid classic color (black, navy or even a burgundy). Then she added, “dress it up with your jewelry”.</p>

<p>I got into my car and wondered how my Timex watch and my wedding ring were going to “dress up” my dress! I didn’t own one other piece of “jewelry” at the time.</p>

<p>I borrowed a pair of pearl stud earrings and a simple costume jewelry strand to wear with a great black velvet dress I bought. It worked just fine.</p>

8

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<p>I think I was born without the brain region that codes for an interest in jewelry. Well, maybe not…I did have a large collection of earrings in my teens. But for decades now, I’ve pretty much worn only pearl studs. They’ve been replaced for birthdays and anniversaries and mothers days, as I often manage to lose one at a convenient time.</p>

<p>I also have a strand of pearls my husband gave me as a wedding gift.</p>

<p>I cannot abide men’s jewelry. I don’t understand its purpose. I would absolutely rule out anyone wearing a pinky ring as a potential date.</p>

9

<p>I have my (3rd) wedding band…which I bought while working for a high-end jewelry store. My Dh came in to take me to lunch and I asked him if he’d like to see the piece I liked best in the whole store…a newly arrived five-stone diamond band with tension-set stones. He looked at it once, said ‘that is nice – get it.’ I had to sit down. Most expensive ‘lunch’ we’ve ever had. Later, he bought me an engagement-type solitaire to go with it, but that was planned. </p>

<p>My ears aren’t pierced so I don’t wear earrings – clips are too much like torture.</p>

<p>But now that I have my rings and my little diamond necklace, I’m not really interested in buying anything else. I look, I say, ‘it’s okay’ but I don’t buy. I guess – at last – I’m done. </p>

<p>Oh – except that I have a teenage daughter who I like to spoil a little.</p>

10

<p>I love jewelry and have a fair amount of good jewelry. (I worked in jewelry for many years when I was younger) For awhile I wasn’t wearing a lot of my jewelry and saved it for only when I dressed up. </p>

<p>Then I said to myself–Are you crazy? You love this stuff. Are you saving it to be buried in? Why aren’t you wearing it everyday? So now I do!</p>

<p>I wear jewelry to work, out to dinner and even today when I went out to a casual lunch with my H and D2. I have gold, silver, diamonds, sapphires, pearls (sea and fresh water), imperial jade, etc. Some items were gifts, some inherited, some bought.</p>

<p>I have many favorites items and some have stories to go with them-- too many to tell here.</p>

<p>But my most favorite right now are two items inherited from my Mom who just died this past December. One is a three stone diamond ring she wore all of her marriage. She inherited it from my Grandmother (her mother) who wore it all of her marriage. The other is a gold locket my Mom bought right after my Dad died 21 years ago. She put a picture of my Dad in the locket and wore it all of the time. I have now put a picture of my Mom on the other side of the locket. It makes me feel that they are together, in the locket and beyond. It makes me feel close to them when I wear it.</p>

<p>Oh, and my H does not wear jewelry–thank goodness. But for the last several years I have been buying him different watches. He likes having the assortment and people, both men and women, keep complimenting him on his watches.</p>

11

<p>I don’t own a lot of jewelry – certainly nothing expensive; no diamonds! – and buy it very rarely. Although I do always wear small earrings, and a watch, and usually a bracelet and/or a necklace of some kind. But the only piece to which I have a sentimental attachment is a gold pendant in the shape of a butterfly, studded with small stones in different colors, which my former partner bought for me on one of our anniversaries some years ago. Which also happened to be while I was in the process of transitioning, so the symbolism was obvious. But it meant a lot to me, and I still wear it sometimes.</p>

12

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<p>I tend to do the same thing. I have several pieces of pretty expensive jewelry that my hubby has given me and I worry it’s too dressy for everyday (diamonds). But I have recently decided that if I don’t wear it now, when will I ever get the chance?</p>

<p>I even have a real sapphire and diamond ring that is almost identical to Princess Diana’s (now Kate’s) that I have traditionally only worn for formal occasions. I really need to wear it more often, though the platinum on it makes it a relatively heavy ring. My husband doesn’t buy me gifts often but when he does he buys really nice stuff.</p>

13

<p>I love jewelry though I often forget to wear it. I’m not interested in real jewels though, I like to wear fine art stuff. Some of it I make (or my son does) like origami earrings or pins with fun papers and watercolor paintings. I do have a pair of star sapphire earrings from my mother that I lusted after for years and she gave them to me, also a very pretty aquarmarine pendant surrounded by diamond chips that was my something blue at my wedding. Actually I have a Lady Di ring too. It’s probably got real stones in it as my Dad gave it to me, but it’s a little big and so not me, I rarely wear it.</p>

<p>My younger son wears (mostly) silver pendants on black cords with t-shirts most of the time. It started as a joke (he got one out of a gumball machine), but he liked the look and owns several interesting ones now.</p>

<p>DH just wears a wedding band.</p>

14

<p>For daytime, I usually only wear a ring and a watch on my left hand. Even though I have quite a bit of jewelry, I don’t wear a lot at once. I like the impact of a few pieces of really good jewelry, rather than lots of cheaper stuff loaded on. I have two wedding sets - my original of 18 kt. yellow gold diamond band and diamond three stone ring, and a 10th anniversary set of platinum diamond eternity band and a magnificent emerald cut stone with side baguettes. </p>

<p>If I wear the yellow gold, I wear a yellow gold Cartier watch along with it, and if I wear the platinum, I wear a Bulgari platinum or a sportier stainless Bulgari watch. I also have a very wide 18 kt. yellow gold band (almost to the knuckle) that I sometimes wear with the Cartier watch. I rarely wear earrings, necklaces, etc. unless I dress up at night. Then I’ll add a cocktail ring, a necklace or a bracelet (never all three together, however). One thing I will say is that I don’t like to mix metals - it’s either all gold or all silver/platinum/white gold for me. I have a couple of pretty stainless and gold watches, but I rarely wear them because I prefer the impact of the all gold or all silver.</p>

15

<p>I have a lot of jewelry- both really good stuff and cheap stuff. I love it all. I buy pieces at art shows (craft jewelry) that is unique and well-made. I don’t go for the $40K sapphires surrounded by diamonds. I have a great engagement ring that I’ve had reset a couple of times and I wear it all the time- night and day (with a band). I have tons of earrings. I have bracelets but I’ve not as into them- they can be annoying. I’m a sporty, casual person, so I don’t like really fussy stuff. I like to put something on and then not mess with it. I have some nice gold and silver crosses, too.
Jewelry- it’s all fun!</p>

16

<p>I’ve been wearing my Princess Di ring since the recent wedding. Why keep it in storage?</p>

<p>My Mo left me her long strand of black pearls. I borrowed them for 3 years straight, when I was going to Bar/Bat Mitzvahs weekly. I love vintage jewelry. My g/fs got together to buy me silver hoop earrings. All my pieces have a story to them (the ring I got in Netanya, the earrings from England, the crystals from Italy). The last piece I bought myself was vintage ring, celebrating “divorce, freedom”. Most of my earrings are semi-precious stones, from close friends. Its not all my fault–my Dad would send me to our jewelers, when I was in HS, to buy something for my Mom.</p>

<p>I think I’ve only bought a few pieces for myself, but i would buy more if given the funds. </p>

<p>Count me as member of JA.</p>

17

<p>Eight years after we married, I lost my diamond (fell out of setting) at the mall. I got a replacement and managed to keep it for almost twenty years before losing it as well.
I’ve decided diamond solitaire rings are not for me. I was tired of yellow gold so now wear a simple silver wide band with filigree embossing on it. I love it and don’t have to worry about catching ring prongs on anything anymore.</p>

<p>My most treasured piece of jewelry is my mother’s engagement ring and father’s wedding band. They both passed away years ago. I took both rings and had them fused together. I wear them on special occasions. They were married in 1947 so the engagement ring has a nice vintage look.
I also have my grandmother’s charm bracelet that I like a lot but don’t wear often because the charms are clanky and get in the way if I’m using my hands much.</p>

<p>My best jewelry story is buying a $3 purse from a Goodwill store and weeks later finding a pair of diamond stud earrings inside. The local jeweler offered me $500 for them but I said “no thanks”. Maybe I’ll have a granddaughter someday to hand them down to with a great story about finding them in a thrift store purse.</p>

<p>Pretty much all the rest of my jewelry is cheap stuff. Most days I go with just a watch and earrings…studs or simple silver hoops. </p>

<p>Men’s jewelry…wedding ring and class rings are ok but anything else is too much for me.<br>
DH wears neither due to his work. He used to wear his college class ring fairly often but it’s too small now.
Neither of our sons wears jewelry of any kind unless you count S1’s dive watch he wears for work.</p>

18

<p>My taste in jewelry has changed so much as I’ve gotten older. I love unique handmade stuff, especially silver. I love fresh water pearls. And turquoise.</p>

<p>When I had my first child, my H gave me a pair of small diamond studs. It was the eighties and big earrings were in, if you remember. So I had my ears double pierced and wear the diamonds in the second hole everyday. I love them.</p>

19

<p>I like simple, good quality jewelry, and most of them are white gold or platinum. Most of the time I’ll have stud earrings (pearl or diamond), engagement ring and eternity band (diamond), a watch (I have 3 favorites). I only wear my jewelry when I go to work or going out at night when I have a driver, otherwise when I am walking around, I take them all off (Mexico).</p>

<p>My favorite story about jewelry is my Rolex watch. I saw someone selling this white gold, diamond Rolex watch on eBay. The merchant was going out of business, it was a brand new watch with certificate. The price was 30% below retail and it was beautiful (small, not clunky, with a diamond face). I bought it using AmEx(I figured it wasn’t real, I could get my money back), and I didn’t tell H about it until afterwards. H was upset at first because he thought I could be taken, but when it arrived H thought it was beautiful.</p>

<p>I was very pleased with myself about what a great deal I got. I was wearing it for a week and it went dead. I thought to myself, “Oh great, I got one of those $5 watch from Chinatown.”(except this was $$$). I was afraid to tell H. I decided to take it to the Rolex repair in NYC, really hoping it just needed a simple repair. They asked for proof of sale, which I didn’t have, so I told them it was a gift. They told me to come back in few hours. </p>

<p>While I waited, I kept on thinking about what I would tell H if the watch turned out to be a fake and I was just mad at myself for buying it on eBay. When I went back to pick up the watch, the lady behind the counter gave the watch back to me, “Here you go, the watch just needed a new battery, which of course is complimentary.” I blurted out, “Oh, so it’s real.” She said, “Yes, it is our latest style. See, it is displayed over there.”</p>

<p>You couldn’t imagine how relieved I was. It is still my favorite watch.</p>

20

<p>I just wear a band- my diamond ring catches on things & the band suits me better I think.
My mom had her jewelry stolen a long time ago in a burglary, but I do have a few of her rings- which I need to have made smaller so I can wear them-
I do like art jewelry & have some things to work on when I am in the mood.
When D1 was about 9 I let her get her ears pierced & we used to stop at Beadworld every month to make earrings. It was great fun & there was a big box of beads that her sister would sit in to keep her occupied.:)</p>