Joden Girl
Baubles, Bling and a Really Good Ring
Memories are a funny thing. It’s bizarre, the snippets that our brains choose to squirrel away in a dusty corner of our head and the things that are immediately disposed of. Why do I remember my phone number from 1979, but I cannot seem to recall what I needed from the grocery store. I have to make a list. Then, once I get to the store, I realize I have forgotten the list. By the way, that phone number is 354-3502. I may be revealing my age, but, notice it’s just seven numbers and no area code? We had to commit it to memory, not program it into a cell phone. Those were good times.
I have worked in the jewelry industry for nearly half my life. Even before then, as a child, I took note of special pieces of jewelry. Their memory is still branded in my mind’s eye, decades later. My grandma wore a plain gold wedding band stacked with her mother’s ring. All five stones of the mother’s ring were synthetic, their hue almost too bright against the muted yellow gold that held them. I remember her hands so well; incredibly soft and a touch that spoke of love. I can still see those two rings spinning around her finger as she quilted. Thankfully, my mother has them now. ♥.
As I got older, two additional pieces became a constant in my mind; they belonged to my childhood best friend’s mother. She seemed so elegant and refined to my unsophisticated ten-year-old eye. The ring finger of her left hand boasted a very wide yellow gold band. No diamond ring, nothing else. Just a polished gold band. She also wore a sizable gold medallion pendant with an “M” on it. Though I can still picture the silhouette of the pendant, it was the ring that really struck me. Since then, I have loved the simplistic refinement of a really good band ring.
This beauty is exactly that… a really good band. Measuring nearly twelve millimeters in width, it’s a bold statement. For those interested in dainty, “barely there” wedding bands, this is not for you. The high-polished, deep golden surface screams “married”. Having just celebrated twenty-five years of wedded bliss, I can attest to the fact that this band is for lifers, like me. Those of us are still smitten after all these years. The right band doesn’t just look good, it feels good. It glides over the knuckle and settles comfortably at the base of the finger. This one is weighty (17.2 grams), offering strength and stability. For me, it feels like wearing my husband’s hoodie – it’s cozy and comforting, like his bear hugs.
Shown on my hand, the presence of the band is clear. At a size 6.5, it’s a bit too big for my ring finger. This band is like Cinderella’s slipper; it has to fit. It cannot be sized. The outer surface features a quilted pattern. It is a dead-on match for the Chanel Coco Crush, although there is no signature in the band. It has a singular mark, “750,” a number that notes the fineness of the gold. Maybe you have a jewelry memory that we can help you realize. Perhaps you’ve dreaming about a little piece of heaven on earth like this. If you have, it can be yours for just $2,750.00.
“You can go to a museum and look, or come to us and touch.”
Written by Carrie Martin
Photos by Dana Jerpe
