When I was young I wore a ton of jewelry. Rings on every finger, necklaces up to my chin. But somewhere along the way I stopped wearing almost all jewelry. For several years I wore only a few rings, then my wedding rings, and now I’m starting to incorporate more items.
I recently purchased a few new items from one of my favorite jewelry makers, Arcana Obscura. While I’m waiting for that to arrive, I was inspired to take a look at my current collection.
1) I got this quartz necklace this year while I was in Cleveland and it has quickly become one of my most worn items. I have completely forgotten the name of the designers that made it but I remember that it was made in Canada by sister designers!
2) Hamsa necklace by Arcana Obscura. I love this necklace and can’t wait to get more pieces from her! I got this one a few years ago.
3) + 4) I bought these two pendents at one of our favorite gems shops over the Summer. It’s a must stop whenever we find ourselves in Cape May NJ. They came with chains, but being no the best quality, I planned on swapping them out. For the amethyst I made a braided waxed cord inspired by one that a friend wears. The other I wore with it’s exisiting chain for a while, but it recently broke. I will most likely thrift a vintage chain for this.
5) + 6) Both my bracelets are second hand sterling silver (as you can see, I basically only wear silver). I found these in 2018 at various thrift shops, or antique markets. Does anyone else find it hard to wear bracelets in the Winter?
7) + 8) These two delicate silver rings are the oldest (as far as when I bought them) items in my collection. I bought them at a Renegade Craft Fair with my friend Racheal almost 10 years ago. I never take them off.
9) + 10) My wedding rings are the oldest items in my collection. I have’t had them the longest but the band is white gold and the diamond ring is silver both from the 20s or 30s, both second hand and antiquw. We got all our wedding jewelry from Erie Basin in Brooklyn.
11) My thoughtful mother in law got me this sea glass necklace as a gift. I love the colors! I kept the artist’s card for a long time, but no longer know where it is.
12) This E chain belonged to my maternal grandma, Elaine. This one is tricky to wear as it easily catches on clothing.
13) Another sea glass piece, a marble, I bought at a sea glass festival circa 2014. It’s a little difficult to wear bc of where it sits on me. I’d love to get it a new, longer chain.
14) Finally I have this citrine, amethyst, and quartz necklace which also has a very cheap chain that I actually snapped this week. I had been thinking of replacing it for a while, so now I have to! We picked this piece up in a gem shop in New Orleans in 2015.
You may have noticed a theme; I am very hard on my jewelry. It has to be able to stand up to a lot. I have several other pieces that have been broken a long time, or items I used to wear and stored away, and now have no idea where they are. I’m sure now that I am actively trying to wear jewelry again, I would wear some of them again. Maybe one day!
I’m not sure how jewelry fits in to slow fashion. I know that almost all of mine are fashioned by artisans, over 10 years old, locally made, and small batch. I feel pretty good about that.
What does your collection look like?
