This Birks ring was the first really beautiful, extravagant thing I ever bought for myself. It's all over the place in this blog but I haven't written about it yet, except to write about the loveliness of light on diamonds.
I left home at seventeen and was extremely poor for most of my life, spending what little money I had on independence and education.
I left home at seventeen and was extremely poor for most of my life, spending what little money I had on independence and education.
Finally, after a lot of sweat and tears, I landed a college teaching job. I was so unaccustomed to having a decent income, that my pay simply sat in the bank, waiting for me to feel secure enough to spend any of it.
This ring signifies a lot then: my realization that I would probably never be destitute again, my realization that I deserve beauty, and my realization that I can spend my own hard-earned money however I choose.
I have never seen anyone else with this ring and I've frequently been asked if I had it designed just for me.
Fast forward to today.
Today I was sitting in a little health food restaurant, when I spotted this stylish woman across the room and approached her to ask if I could photograph her for this blog. But before I could even ask, I found myself fumbling for words. I was staring at her hand.
Lo! It was my ring! On someone else!
I gathered myself together, explained both my blog and the reason for my lack of eloquence, and managed to ask if I could photograph her, to which she said yes.
I really loved her vibrant use of colour. To me, it spoke of real chutzpah. True to her love of colour, her ring is yellow gold, instead of white gold like mine, and contains a few amethysts because, she said, in a matter of fact way, that's the Goddess' stone and she calls herself a goddess. Chutzpah indeed!
We ended up having lunch together and talking about many things, including the stories behind our rings. Hers was her engagement ring. How many women have such an unusual engagement ring?
We talked some about how maturity brings a different approach to love and to the conventional rituals of commitment. We get to define things in our own way, on our own terms now. This includes whether we wear rings to show our commitment, what kind of rings we wear, and how how we wear them.
And so she took her colourful self off to an appointment, and I went thrift shopping, garnering the following hoard in my own preferred palette.
And this ring. Because a femme like me can never have too many rings.
Love the photography and how you express the story behind all of them. Makes me want to look at my own jewellery, in a different light....appreciating it more.....SB
ReplyDeleteI like to keep my costume jewelry visible in my home, so I don't forget what I have.(My better stuff I keep in a home safe, itself vintage.) Picking my brooch, earrings, etc, before I leave the house is as essential as remembering my keys. One of my favourite things about asking people about their jewelry is learning the stories behind it. If it's real (diamond, gold, etc.), there is always a story. Ask very old women about their pieces. You won't be disappointed.
DeleteHow serendipitously synchronistic! Seriously, that's pretty amazing and that is a gorgeous ring!
ReplyDeleteMy jewelry armoire looks like it's been hit by a tornado. I need help LOL!
Spashionista (Alicia)
If you can believe it, I have a safe in my house! It's an extremely heavy, vintage safe. Nobody but nobody is going to get into that thing and/or drag it out of the house. For my costume jewelry, I have a complicated organizational system that has been greatly aided by the find of a vintage jewelry tree that holds a LOT of stuff. Bracelets I just put on paper towel racks. Should I do a whole post on jewelry organization, do you think?
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