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Will your kids really want your jewelry?

TravelingGal

Super_Ideal_Rock
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Dec 29, 2004
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I'm curious if those of you with older children have given your children jewelry you've worn...and if they actually wear it.

I've bought my mom stuff over the years (some crap, some not so much), and she's given it all back. Most of it is going to sit around for years and will be lucky if it's worn by my daughter. I think it's because I'm a PSer and I like to have my own stuff, plus obviously I have different taste. But it's sentimental and I can't let most of it go. However part of me thinks I should sell what's nicer to fund things I will enjoy in my lifetime. My kid can do the same once I hand my bling to her....

Because I think no matter how nice my stuff is, my daughter probably won't care for it. Maybe if she doesn't have much to spend on bling, she might wear something of mine or her grandmothers. My mom's favorite sister recently asked my mom if she could give me all her jewelry (which I gather is probably in the same league as my mom's) and I actually said, "No! I have too much stuff now sitting around as it is!" But she only has a son and he has no use for it, seeing he just got divorced and only has a son himself.

Do you think the nicer the bling, the more they may want it? Or do you think they just like to get their own stuff?
 

mrs jam

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I think it will mostly depend on how sentimental the child may or may not grow up to be. And how nice the stuff is. :tongue:

My dad gave me all of my mom's jewelry when she passed away, but I ended up giving it to my brothers to give to my nieces when they are older. I don't think I have a sentimental bone in my body, and I have a very different taste in jewelry than my mom had. Sometimes I feel a little guilty for not hanging on to a piece or two, but it bothers me to keep things I don't use or wear. I am the anti-hoarder.
 

Kaleigh

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My daughter and I have the same taste in jewelry. Anything I have passed on to her, she wears a lot.. One piece I gave her, she will leave here now and then and I love wearing it..

My son has an appreciation for jewelry as well. He's got a great eye as well... He's not a PS'er but learned from me since he was born.. He had no choice.

I need to get them to go through what I have and speak up for what they want....

I am going to sell my oval with half moons...

So heads up on that...

Now if you asked me if I would want my mother's jewelry?? Oh heck no. I don't do fakes. Costume yes if it's truly great vintage stuff. Funny thing her shoes cost way more than any piece of jewelry...

Nanny taught me about gems, and that is either a blessing or a curse. I say a blessing.. ;))
 

Pandora II

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Depends on the child.

I have quite a few pieces from my grandmother - some she picked for me, others I picked... I tended to pick the pieces that my grandfather had designed and had made for her, even if others were more wearable, as they had more sentimental value.

Of my mother's jewellery there are a couple of pieces I covert - they're not really valuable, just things I remember her wearing when I was little and that I liked then.

I hope Daisy will like my jewellery when she's older - she's certainly keen enough on it at the moment! Not that she will be getting it for a LONG time... I do not get people who give their wedding sets away? She can have mine when I'm gone and not before!
 

justginger

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My mother has already given me all the jewelry she doesn't wear daily, or hasn't been promised elsewhere. I don't wear much of it, but barring a piece or two, I couldn't bring myself to sell them. I am VERY sentimental by nature. I don't have children of my own yet, but I don't like the idea of them selling my things. I'd rather pieces, especially antiques, going to someone else, intact and enjoyed. Thankfully I have three delightful nieces who are also in the inheritance race. :wink2:
 

Polished

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You bet! Old Icelandic necklaces from my mother. I see significant competition between my daughters for them. I think it's worth talking to them about it before you pop off. They need an arbiter or my eldest daughter will acquiesce to her younger sibling too much.
 

vc10um

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My grandmother never had much nice jewelry, but I'm very sentimental by nature, and the oldest granddaughter, so I have many of her things. I do wear them from time to time: her wedding set (my avatar) that I reset with a sapphire, a pearl ring that my mother bought her (my mother has a matching one), and a suite of amethysts (earrings, necklace, ring) that my mother gave me of hers for my college graduation. I have a few pairs of her earrings that I also wear from time to time, and a necklace.

My mother passed down a strand of pearls after she received a new one, and I wear it on special occasions, since it's a very nice strand...I have my cheapola SF Chinatown strand for "everyday" pearl wear. And I have her wedding set from when she married my father (they divorced when I was 9) with her blessing to do whatever I wanted with the 0.5ct gorgeous oval in the engagement ring. STILL haven't decided on that... :twirl:

However, I DO plan on wearing my mother's current jewelry after she passes away. Both of our birthdays are in June, and so I'll be receiving all her pearls (including the Mikimotos I wore at my wedding) and a few of her diamond cocktail rings (since my sister doesn't like them). But that's because my mother has FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC taste in jewelry. And she buys quality pieces. I would still wear it from time to time, I'm sure, if it wasn't so fabulous, but as of right now, I pretty much plan on wearing something of hers every day once I am unfortunate enough to receive it.
 

hawaiianorangetree

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I plan to leave all of my 'good' stuff to my daughter. She will probably have to reset my ring into a style she likes because it won't ever fit her (it just about fits now).

She wears all of my old yellow gold rings that I no longer wear and at the moment she has an interest in gold and diamonds so I'll be surprised if she doesn't want my collection. I am adding to my small with the thought that she will have it all, and I'd love to leave some nice things for her to remember me by.

If she doesn't want them well that's ok too. She knows what pricescope is and she will be able to sell them to someone who will. :))
 

Maisie

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Kaleigh|1336536830|3190759 said:
My daughter and I have the same taste in jewelry. Anything I have passed on to her, she wears a lot.. One piece I gave her, she will leave here now and then and I love wearing it..

My son has an appreciation for jewelry as well. He's got a great eye as well... He's not a PS'er but learned from me since he was born.. He had no choice.

I need to get them to go through what I have and speak up for what they want....

I am going to sell my oval with half moons...

So heads up on that...

Now if you asked me if I would want my mother's jewelry?? Oh heck no. I don't do fakes. Costume yes if it's truly great vintage stuff. Funny thing her shoes cost way more than any piece of jewelry...

Nanny taught me about gems, and that is either a blessing or a curse. I say a blessing.. ;))

Really?? Wow, that is a beautiful ring!!! :love:
 

stargurl78

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I don't have kids yet but I know that I would not be interested in wearing most of my mother's jewelry if it was passed down to me, except for my grandmother's beautiful transitional diamond wedding set. I'm not terribly sentimental so I would probably sell most of it, except for maybe her original wedding set. Her upgraded wedding set is a marquise in a chunky setting which is just not my style. She has a lot of colored gemstone necklaces and bracelets from department stores but the style of them just looks very 80s and cheesy to me, so I would probably sell those too.
 

onedrop

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Kaleigh|1336536830|3190759 said:
I am going to sell my oval with half moons...

Kaleigh!! You buried the lead here! Your oval with half moons is one of my favorites on PS. If you do so I hope it goes to a good home, and selfishly I hope I'll have my war chest built up to be lucky enough to get it...

On to the topic at hand: I imagine that I will get some of my Mom's jewelry at some point. We have different tastes so I might not wear it all, but I think I'll end up keeping it for sentimental reasons.

ETA: I don't have kids, but if I do have them at some point, I don't expect to pass anything down to them unless they really show an interest. It just seems like in my experience, jewelry tastes in particular vary so much from person to person. And so I seriously doubt my daughter (if I have one) will like the same things that I do.
 

Circe

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The line of heirlooms starts with my mom - when my folks left Russia, they came with almost nothing. That said, my dad spent the last 30 years making up for lost time: her collection makes mine look teeny. I love a lot of the pieces, admire most of what's left in the abstract, and am left cold by a few. I figure that when the time comes (may it not be for years and years and years), I'll incorporate the pieces I love into my wardrobe: save the ones that are lovely but not my style for future generations; and simply sell off the ones that would otherwise take up space.

I'll have no objections if my descendents do the same - I just plan to put a caveat in my will that anything that's sold off goes to benefit a cause I believe in! At this point, I only have a little boy, so odds might lean in that direction. Then again, he thinks mommy's little rainbow-makers are the most fascinating objects in the world, so ... :Up_to_something:
 

QueenB29

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Sep 3, 2008
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In a word? No.

My mother has very little interest in jewelry these days (I don't get it either :rolleyes: ) and most of what she wears are gold and silver two-toned hoops. Ick :knockout: She did have quite a bit of jewelry when she was younger that she's already given to me....a golden topaz that's horribly windowed and scratched...a nice akoya pearl that's in a terribly ugly and heavy gold ring....a turquoise in a very Western setting that's not my style at all...and a gorgeous and huge African amethyst ring that I actually loved....and lost ;( She actually does have a lovely Beverly-Kish diamond band that she uses as her wedding band now. (I have no idea what happened to her original set.) I would be happy to wear that, but since she's a size 10 and I'm a size 4.5....I don't think that's going to happen.

I have two of my paternal grandmother's rings. I reset one, probably a tourmaline, and wear it all the time now. The other has two small white stones in illusion hexagonal settings and seed pearls in yellow gold. The seed pearls have lost all of their nacre and I don't wear yellow gold, so I don't wear the ring. I love the illusion settings, though, but since the stones aren't diamonds I don't know that it's worth redesigning the ring. Decisions, decisions......Speaking of which, (sorry for the mini-threadjack) anyone know what diamond stimulants were common in the 1940s? White Zircon? White Sapphire? Something else?
 

Rhea

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My parents and grandparents didn't have nice jewelry that I've been made aware of. Most of their jewelry was costume pieces, and not items that are currently worn today, such as clip on earrings. There are 3 pieces I'd like to have, a gold plated pocket watch which originally belonged to my great-grandmother, my mother's quarter carat diamond engagement ring, and a clay necklace I made my mother when I was in grade school The true peak of my artistic ability!

My sister has very different taste and I couldn't see her fighting for the ring and pocket watch other than for monetary value, which is fairly small anyhow. She'd be more inclined to take the costume jewelry and dismantle it to make her own creation I think. I am prepared to be surprised, and let go any and all pieces to her to keep the relationship with her if necessary.

If I have children, I can't imagine they would want my pieces. I love earrings and have a great collection of artistic silver dangle earrings. They hold value only as scrap and if jewelry changes as much for their generation as it did between mine and my mother's they will be terribly out of fashion! If I have any children that express an interest I'd write it in a will, or gift them as I got older if I had time. I've seen my dad's side argue over pieces that I wouldn't consider worth it in the name of their being sentimental. I think it was just competition myself!
 

Lady_Disdain

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I would certainly wear my mother's jewelry. Both she and my father have great taste. Her collection is rather small, as she doesn't care much about jewelry, but there are some beautiful pieces. She likes dainty, classic pieces which are still very wearable today and probably forever.
 

soocool

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My DD loves white gold and all my jewelry and the jewelry I got from my mom is yellow gold . I don't need the money so I don't think I will sell. I remember being younger and not really liking some of my mom's pieces, but now I find that I really like them (go figure!) Mom's ring size was bigger than mine and I haven't resized any of them, but DD has larger fingers and I gave them to her. Mom also had a huge braided gold bracelet that I swore I would never wear, but find myself wearing it a great deal of the time now. My sister has 3 boys and 1 granddaughter, so she is saving her stuff for the little one.

So I primarily won't sell the pieces because there is a sentiment that goes along with each piece that I have documented (I have photos of all jewelry with important specs primarily for insurance purposes, but also listed the sentiment behind it, eg. heart pendant mom and dad gave me on my 16th birthday, bracelet my dad gave mom on their 25th anniversary, etc.). Once I give it al to DD then she can decide what she wants to do with it.
 

partgypsy

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I like having a couple pieces from my mom, grandmother, because they remind me of them. But yes they spend more time in the jewelry box than me wearing them especially my grandmothers (larger costume pieces) but they do get wear (even if only on Halloween).
As far as my kids, my daughter announced that she is not going to get her ears pierced and I was thinking dang, who am I going to give all my earrings to? I guess my youngest dd will get them all!. However they both LOVE my diamond anniversary ring, where they jokingly "steal" it off my finger and put it on. Oldest knows that she is going to get it. I'm not sure the youngest is aware, so I don't know if that would cause problems in the future. Who knows, maybe when she gets older we can pick out a stone together for her to have a nice ring, say a yellow diamond :naughty: (her favorite colors, #1 is yellow, pink, and blue).

But in general, a little heirloom goes a long way. 1 or 2 pieces that remind the person of their mom or granmother is more than enough and that will come about naturally from things the person normally wears, don't need to plan for it. Any more than that I think the person would prefer to have cash (it can be a burden to give someone too many heirloom pieces).
 

Tacori E-ring

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My child already wants my jewelry :lol: One day I will have my mom's e-ring (which was her grandmother's) and I LOVE it. However, the jewelry my father has given her is not really my style. I like some of the more simple pieces (like her emerald tennis bracelet) but to tell you the truth, I don't think I would wear some of her stuff.
 

baby monster

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I think it's better to sell things you don't wear to fund things you want to do unless they have a lot of meaning to you. The gifter typically enjoys when giftees derive pleasure from using gifts instead of having gifts sit in jewelry box.

My mom already gave me a jewelry set that she never really worn and I would never wear. I sold it and split the money with my sister. There are only a couple of sentimental pieces she has like her ER which has a stone from one my grandma's earrings. I think I would keep that but most of her jewelry is just accessories, which are very taste specific.
 

iLander

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My DD loves my 3-stone 25th anniversary ring, so that's definitely staying with her.

My Cartier watch? Probably not, she came home the other day saying how much she liked those big white ceramic watches. :rolleyes:

She does keep inherited stuff, though. My MIL passed all her jewelry on to her, and she will keep every single speck of it, for sentimental reasons. But she only wears one tiny pair of pearl earrings out of the whole lot. It's all GINORMOUS stuff, think huge blue topaz rings and giant citrine pendants. My MIL lived near a TV shopping network clearance center and would buy their biggest piece about once a month. Door knocker earrings, jumbo bracelets. My DD will keep it, but she won't wear it.

BTW, "heirloom furniture" is also an oxymoron.
 

Black Jade

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I have boys so probably not.
In general I notice that people tend to like their grandmother's jewelry more than their mother's jewelry. Your mom's jewelry is usually just outdated, but your grandmother's is old enough to be vintage, or even antique and is probably back in style again.
My mom gave away most of hers already--didn't want us waiting on her to die. Most of hers was given by my dad to her and she didn't like it anyway. They had very different taste. I actually like it but can't wear a lot of it as she is a tall and stately woman while I am a little thing. However I notice my sons all seem to like tall, big ladies so when they get married maybe a daughter in law would like a family heirloom.
It is all real stuff. My family tends to value real stuff. so when my grandma died, all of her costume jewelry disappeared and now we realize that was unfortunate as she had some classic and valuable pieces from good designers, but at the time we all thought, well it isn't gold, so its 'junk'.
 

GemFever

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I've started giving my mom jewelry presents that are closer to my taste, and I think she loves them too. Also, I'm working on influencing my dad's jewelry presents to my mom, too... :Up_to_something: So I do love some pieces in my mom's collection, and I can always borrow them, but I don't even want to *think* of inheriting them... or, as someone already said, not for many, many, many years. Knock on wood.

My personal collection is probably bigger than my mom's already, or at least pricier. I've wondered about my tastes, and whether future generations will keep my jewelry... I think I'll pick a few favorite pieces and *instill* love and respect for them in my future children (or grandchildren, or nieces, shall see). So a select few pieces I hope my relatives will keep, but for the cheaper, less sentimental stuff... it'll probably disappear as the yeas go by.
 

Dreamer_D

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My kids are boys so I doubt they will want my bling, and I'll be damned if I am gifting it to a daughter in law :devil:

I have bought my mom a couple things and she loves them and happily wears them. She likes jewelery and does not buy ince stuff, silver mostly and amber and the like. Hippie type things! She has been very appreciative of the pieces I have given her and seems to wear them a lot.
 

maebelle

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I have two rings from my mother that were given to her by her grandmother that I wear everyday, I also have my grandmother's engagement ring. I'm so sentimental about the opal that when the original cracked I had a new crystal opal cabochon cut for the setting. But I know friends that have their parents stuff and it just stays in a box.

The only thing I can hope is that I impart enough nostaglia on at least one of my (currently hypothetical) kids so they will want to keep jewelry that has been in the family 4 generations
 

rosetta

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onedrop|1336570255|3190962 said:
Kaleigh|1336536830|3190759 said:
I am going to sell my oval with half moons...

Kaleigh!! You buried the lead here! Your oval with half moons is one of my favorites on PS. If you do so I hope it goes to a good home, and selfishly I hope I'll have my war chest built up to be lucky enough to get it...

On to the topic at hand: I imagine that I will get some of my Mom's jewelry at some point. We have different tastes so I might not wear it all, but I think I'll end up keeping it for sentimental reasons.

ETA: I don't have kids, but if I do have them at some point, I don't expect to pass anything down to them unless they really show an interest. It just seems like in my experience, jewelry tastes in particular vary so much from person to person. And so I seriously doubt my daughter (if I have one) will like the same things that I do.

Man I love that ring Kaleigh! And my war chest is built. Who needs a house anyway, right? :rodent:
 

tammy77

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My girls already raid my jewelry box if allowed! I've given my oldest DD some earrings and two necklaces. I'm holding onto some pieces for my younger DD, but at 7 she's still just a little too young IMO to wear the real stuff. :))
 

Kaleigh

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I don't want to thread jack and don't want to break any rules. My oval with half moons will be listed on PS pre-loved section. I don't have a pay pal account so will need my daughter to help me do that. She's crazy busy with a move and upcoming vacay so it won't be listed anytime soon.

Sorry for interrupting.
 

Fly Girl

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My kids have made it clear that they do not want my jewelry.

No problem, I like wearing it, so I'm not going to worry about where it goes after I'm gone. :???:
 

iLander

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Fly Girl|1336590581|3191340 said:
My kids have made it clear that they do not want my jewelry.

No problem, I like wearing it, so I'm not going to worry about where it goes after I'm gone. :???:

All those lovely pearls? What? :o

Yeah . . . pretty sure my girl isn't into my pearls either. :rolleyes:
 

Enerchi

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My daughter likes a few of my pieces (and oddly, the one ring that I think is one of my cheaper rings, is her favourite!) but I'd love to see all 3 kids divide things up equally, based on what appeals to them, not by what the monetary value is, because that isn't the right way to do it. Keep what you love, not what's worth the most.

My grandmother had a lot of pieces but other than 1 or 2 things, I don't think my sister and I got any of it. My own mother has a beautiful collection of items she's acquired and I hope that when she is no longer using them, my sister and I divide things based on what we like and would wear. We kind of did that a few years ago and we both agree on what appeals to each of us, so I have my fingers crossed, that when the time comes, it will be a smooth event.

I think because "WE" like the items so much, we often attach more interest to them than what our kids may think. My personal taste ranges from funky to traditional, so who knows what they will decide they like or want!

I'm a bit like Dreamer tho - not sure how I feel about things going to future DIL's.... but, I guess by then, it won't be an issue for me!
 
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