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The Gateway piece

empliau

empliau

Brilliant_Rock
Joined
Jun 9, 2022
Messages
553
I thought maybe we could post about the piece that started a lifetime of jewelry wearing/love/obsession. I was at the jewelry store with my mother and I was 14, with some money that I'd saved, when I saw it:Screen Shot 2023-07-01 at 16.21.27.png
(and if you haven't seen the commercial, I highly recommend it:

Anyway, I bought it - wore it through high school, college - and I still like it, but it fits my left hand and my wedding ring is occupying that spot now. But I still have fond memories of it.
IMG_0036.jpegIMG_0037.jpeg
 
When I was a little girl, we would go to town. If I was offered a toy, I would go instead to the jewelry counter at Woolworth’s. I would always choose a ring and insisted on wearing it on my middle finger. The obsession was born at a very young age for me! As a very young teenager, I was in a jewelry store and saw my birthstone in a six prong ring. It was not large but I thought it was beautiful! It was $20 and my father gave me the money for it. I wore it everyday; one day I looked down at my hand in gym class and realized the stone was gone! First lesson on prongs and that they and basketball didn’t go together! Lol!
 
i used to window shop jewlery store windows with mum as a young girl
one day in the early '80's mum went in an brought an emerald ring i just loved
of course it is small by PS standards but it is well made 18k and made in NZ
i now own that ring
i was happy my sister was happy for me to have it when we were going through mum's jewlery after the funeral
when i took mum's jewlery in to be resized and cleaned after she had died the jewler recognised the ring as being made by a jewler he had trained with, he got quite excitted
i will have to find a picture...
 
My amazing Great Aunt started my obsession with sparkly things. She was unable to have children & had a very wealthy husband who bought her the most amazing & high grade diamonds, so the jewels were her babies. I inherited her antique pearl & OMC ring upon her death in 2014 (aged 99) as many here know, but she left an abundant of treasures to my mother, her only niece. There are diamonds, amazing opal suites, gold, rubies & even her grandmothers jewellery from the 1850’s, which is interesting in style but now very delicate.

My mother has always said when i was little, Aunt Amy & I would sneak off to look at her sparkly things & I would ask questions about them far beyond my years. We were definitely jewellery kindred spirits.
 
When I was a little girl, whenever I went to see my pediatric dentist, I always picked one of the "blue sapphire" rings as my prize. They were the kind you could squeeze to fit your finger, and I cherished each one until the inevitable loss occurred. My love of sparklies started very young.
 
I was always fascinated by colours and optical effects. Rainbows, oil slicks, soap bubbles, peacock feathers, the prisms on my grandparents' antique lustre vases. I smoothed out the foil wrappers from easter eggs and collected cellophane wrapping. I was amazed to find that looking at the world through red cellophane doesn't make everything look red. (Try it. There is an explanation...)

From another direction, my grandfather was a geologist. In his study, he had a collection of specimens. I was fascinated by the crystals - how do all those atoms arrange themselves in regular arrays?

It was only a few years ago that I started buying things. First it was rock-shop quality moonstone, labradorite and star rose quartz spheres. Then a rock-shop quality star ruby ring. (I've never shown this before, because it's not PS quality.) The rest is history. My standard line: I don't have jewellery, I have a wearable rock collection.

FirstStars.jpg
 
My mum has always loved jewellery, as did hers. My grandmother adored opals, and I inherited her wedding set when she passed away. I wore a lot of beads, costume jewellery etc as a child, and mum loved picking out real pieces for me as I grew older. Now the tables have turned, and some of her favourite pieces of hers are gifts from me! She definitely created a monster :bigsmile:
 
Starstruck8 said:
I was always fascinated by colours and optical effects. Rainbows, oil slicks, soap bubbles, peacock feathers, the prisms on my grandparents' antique lustre vases. I smoothed out the foil wrappers from easter eggs and collected cellophane wrapping. I was amazed to find that looking at the world through red cellophane doesn't make everything look red. (Try it. There is an explanation...)

From another direction, my grandfather was a geologist. In his study, he had a collection of specimens. I was fascinated by the crystals - how do all those atoms arrange themselves in regular arrays?

It was only a few years ago that I started buying things. First it was rock-shop quality moonstone, labradorite and star rose quartz spheres. Then a rock-shop quality star ruby ring. (I've never shown this before, because it's not PS quality.) The rest is history. My standard line: I don't have jewellery, I have a wearable rock collection.

FirstStars.jpg
Click to expand...

that ring has a ton of personality, i would wear it quite happily
im glad this thread has given it an outting on PS

i always enjoying looking through the crystal shops more if they didnt stink of isence :lol-2:
 
Asscherhalo_lover said:
For me it was my Mother's 80's glory engagement ring. A 2ct marquise with a full "spray" style wrap.
Click to expand...

‘Need to see this and love calling it glory.
Starstruck8 said:
It was only a few years ago that I started buying things. First it was rock-shop quality moonstone, labradorite and star rose quartz spheres. Then a rock-shop quality star ruby ring. (I've never shown this before, because it's not PS quality.) The rest is history. My standard line: I don't have jewellery, I have a wearable rock collection.

FirstStars.jpg
Click to expand...

‘Post your cool stuff! Nobody will judge.

Daisys and Diamonds said:
that ring has a ton of personality, i would wear it quite happily
im glad this thread has given it an outting on PS

i always enjoying looking through the crystal shops more if they didnt stink of isence :lol-2:
Click to expand...

Hahahahaha I hear you on the incense.

When I was a kid the stores all had deals where you got coupons as rewards for shopping and then you could cash in the coupons for merchandise. Here is the faux-pal my mom got me with her coupons:

IMG_1053.jpeg

Any ideas what it is made of?
 
oncrutchesrightnow said:
‘Need to see this and love calling it glory.


‘Post your cool stuff! Nobody will judge.



Hahahahaha I hear you on the incense.

When I was a kid the stores all had deals where you got coupons as rewards for shopping and then you could cash in the coupons for merchandise. Here is the faux-pal my mom got me with her coupons:

IMG_1053.jpeg

Any ideas what it is made of?
Click to expand...

I think your faux-pal is foiled glass.....
It's great that you still have it!
 
I always loved jewelry since I was old enough to remember.
I used to play in Mom's and grandma's jewelry box all the time.
I had a lot of costume jewelry as a kid, but my first "real" ring was a sterling and oval garnet bypass ring from the Lillian Vernon catalog. I begged Dad to buy it for me. This was in 1975.
I wore it every day for a long time.
 
I don’t remember this incident, but I’ve been told by my mom that when I was very young (2-3years old), I apparently fell in love with one of her bracelets; to the point that I would grab it every time she wore it and tell her I wanted it. So I assume that was my gateway piece, but I just remember being in love with jewelry always!
 
I do not have a particular moment, but I have memories of annual visits to a place where people donated stuff (clothes, toys mostly) to be sold for charity. There was a lady who was in charge of the jewellery. To me, her name was 'the lady who likes me' - even my parents started referring to her as such. I would stay by her stall for hours. She was very kind.

I remember looking for the hallmarks to get the good stuff. I knew k stood for gold. I was a smart 5-7 year old. My parents would let me buy my favorite piece at the end of the day, sometimes two if the lady liked me so much she gave us a discount.

I don't know what happened to most of the jewellery, but somehow this 9k gold chain I bought there has stayed with me. I'll always fondly remember 'the lady who likes me.'

I also used to fantasize about robbing jewellery stores.

ch.jpg
 
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oncrutchesrightnow said:
‘Need to see this and love calling it glory.


‘Post your cool stuff! Nobody will judge.



Hahahahaha I hear you on the incense.

When I was a kid the stores all had deals where you got coupons as rewards for shopping and then you could cash in the coupons for merchandise. Here is the faux-pal my mom got me with her coupons:

IMG_1053.jpeg

Any ideas what it is made of?
Click to expand...

I'll have to see if I can find a picture anywhere, my father passed over 25 years ago and she sold it then to help keep our house.
 
Oh I love this thread and all the stories! My love of jewelry started with my mother who had the most fabulous cameo collection which was very startling for us because we were so very poor. Some she brought with her from France [she was a war bride] and later when money wasn't quite as tight, she bought one a year. I would stare endlessly at the little jewels on some of those cameos...the tiny diamonds, pearls and little colored stones on the women were mesmerizing to me. I don't know if she gave up her cameo for the year or they saved up but for my 12th birthday my parents bought me a birthstone ring. I loved that ring even though it was only 10kt gold and I'm sure the stone is glass, lol. It went through some adventures in Jr. High, including being stolen but it was returned thankfully and I still have it today.

cmsfirstring1.jpg
 
I do remember going to Woolworth's as well and I remember love looking at the rings I use to stare at them and my mom would sometimes buy me one and I would wear it till I couldnt wear it anymore and yes they turned my finger green lol...I have always love sparklies....my first ring was a birthstone ring my mom got for me right before my 12th birthday its in December so my birthstone is Blue Zircon and the blue stone in this picture is the ring, I did have to have it retipped years ago, I never wear anymore and the glass stone is scratched up...but its by far my most "valuable" ring.
0F9ECCCE-363A-4048-B792-E30BBD107F04.jpeg
 
I went to camp outside of Kerrville, Texas, where James Avery started his jewelry career. It was a tradition at the camp to take our leftover commissary money to the JA studio and buy charms and friendship bracelets to give our friends. I didn’t know about this my first year, so only had $12 left, which was enough for a bracelet and 2 charms. The next year, I had saved much more, and bought more. I still love JA and can spot it a mile away at a pawn store. I always loved it because it was real, not plated.
 
stracci2000 said:
Hey! I thought I was the only evil little kid who thought about that!
Click to expand...

I have a core memory of wanting to steal a ring of family friend, who took it off and left it on the dinner table to go wash her hands. One of those times a child has to choose right over wrong, luckily I chose right.

ETA Part of the shame of being a boy interested in jewellery, might have led to those thoughts. I am sure the family friend would happily show me her ring had I shown interest. I never did get a good look at it, just knew I wanted it. Lol.
 
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HI:

Charming thread! This signet ring--Dad gave us girls/each one. I was pretty young.

signet ring.jpg
 
toomuchB said:
I have a core memory of wanting to steal a ring of family friend, who took it off and left it on the dinner table to go wash her hands. One of those times a child has to choose right over wrong, luckily I chose right.

ETA Part of the shame of being a boy interested in jewellery, might have led to those thoughts. I am sure the family friend would happily show me her ring had I shown interest. I never did get a good look at it, just knew I wanted it. Lol.
Click to expand...

Of course, I think we all have had those moments. But we know better than to act on them!
 
Ally T said:
My amazing Great Aunt started my obsession with sparkly things. She was unable to have children & had a very wealthy husband who bought her the most amazing & high grade diamonds, so the jewels were her babies. I inherited her antique pearl & OMC ring upon her death in 2014 (aged 99) as many here know, but she left an abundant of treasures to my mother, her only niece. There are diamonds, amazing opal suites, gold, rubies & even her grandmothers jewellery from the 1850’s, which is interesting in style but now very delicate.

My mother has always said when i was little, Aunt Amy & I would sneak off to look at her sparkly things & I would ask questions about them far beyond my years. We were definitely jewellery kindred spirits.
Click to expand...

Does your Mom wear the inherited jewellery?
 
My family on both sides have always been into jewellery and gemstones.
I received my first ruby, sapphire and emerald for my 3rd, 4th, 5th birthdays from family. All pendants.

When I got my ears pierced at 12, I was given omcs as my first set of earrings by my grandmother. Then in my teenage years I was given more earrings - rubies, sapphires, emerald, jade. When I got married I received more jewellery.
Over the years I've continued to collect, mostly coloured stones.

My great grandfather on my mother's side was a gemstone collector himself, mostly diamonds. Some of his collection passed to my grandmother and then to my mum and me but I'm not sure which stones.
My mum still has his loupe that he used, I used to play with it as a kid not knowing what it was. Its over 100 years old.
 
When I was about 11, I used my red packet money given to me during Chinese New Year to buy a ring, a thin band with small diamonds, to the horror of my mum as she thought I had wasted the money.

I don't have the ring now and can't remember what had happened to it, however, it was the start of my jewellery vice.

DK :))
 
toomuchB said:
I have a core memory of wanting to steal a ring of family friend, who took it off and left it on the dinner table to go wash her hands. One of those times a child has to choose right over wrong, luckily I chose right.

ETA Part of the shame of being a boy interested in jewellery, might have led to those thoughts. I am sure the family friend would happily show me her ring had I shown interest. I never did get a good look at it, just knew I wanted it. Lol.
Click to expand...

well no shame here
i for one love men's jewlery
 
llamacat said:
My family on both sides have always been into jewellery and gemstones.
I received my first ruby, sapphire and emerald for my 3rd, 4th, 5th birthdays from family. All pendants.

When I got my ears pierced at 12, I was given omcs as my first set of earrings by my grandmother. Then in my teenage years I was given more earrings - rubies, sapphires, emerald, jade. When I got married I received more jewellery.
Over the years I've continued to collect, mostly coloured stones.

My great grandfather on my mother's side was a gemstone collector himself, mostly diamonds. Some of his collection passed to my grandmother and then to my mum and me but I'm not sure which stones.
My mum still has his loupe that he used, I used to play with it as a kid not knowing what it was. Its over 100 years old.
Click to expand...

we need to see this loupe
 
canuk-gal said:
Does your Mom wear the inherited jewellery?
Click to expand...

No! She doesn’t even wear her wedding rings anymore unless she is going out for dinner etc (she’s been widowed now for 23 years).

She will turn 80 in October & I think with finger size changes & weak hands etc, she just can’t be bothered? She wears her studs every day & she has a 3 bracelet stack that I bought for her over a few years in my early 20’s, consisting of different styles of heavy silver chains, that she literally has never removed. But she doesn’t wear anything else unless getting dressed up. Now, I may have just turned 49, but i still like to have a rummage through her jewellery case when I visit & try things on :lol-2:
 
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