My dear mother-in-law, known by the family as “Memaw,” loved jewelry. I mean, really loved it. She had boxes and boxes of treasures she’d worn over the years - from inexpensive costume pieces she’d purchased herself, to fine pieces she’d received as special occasion gifts, to family heirloom items - and I believe she adored each and every one of them.
A few years after her passing we gathered to sift through her collection - her husband (“Hop”), two daughters, my husband, and I. Memories are so often wrapped up in our jewelry, and I think we all knew that unwrapping Memaw’s treasures would fill us with a mix of emotions.
Though the jewelry was certainly beautiful, what struck me most was that many of the pieces were in their original boxes and labeled with a year and where or who the piece originally came from. (If you haven’t done this with your own jewelry, I’d urge you to do so, as it was an absolute delight to see these handwritten notes.) Hop helped fill in some of the blanks of missing information and needless to say, there were many moments of laughter and tears that afternoon.
My sweet sisters-in-love each chose a piece for me to create a necklace for them to wear in memory of their dear Mom. This was the first one, a lovely and intricate brooch pin which I set atop a piece of filigree and added to a stitched string of pearls. A labor of love.
If you would like one of your own family treasures updated to an everyday wearable piece of jewelry, please email me at suzanne@theelegantmuse.com. Also, I hope you'll consider joining my email list to learn about the latest designs and subscriber-only promotions.