Heirlooms - Old and New

Occasionally we all inherit, or are given, or get something or some things that are too good to use for a variety of seemingly sound but really quite silly reasons-they’re heirlooms or too rare or too expensive or too fragile or too pretty. The result is heirloom linen handed down from generation to generation that falls apart when some benighted heiress decides to air it. While I’m glad that past generations saved some things we now enjoy, we are enjoying them by using them instead of carefully storing them for our kids-in turn to store. Unused beautiful things are a waste.

Malcolm Forbes

Do you have a piece of jewelry that you wear every single day?

Besides my wedding band, I do (or did!)

I am with Malcolm.  I try to use my things.  I take great pleasure in knowing that I am using the things I love and that they are bringing me pleasure, rather than leaving them in the drawer, untouched and unloved! I inherited many things from my mother and father after she died and he was too ill to stay in the house.  They were beautiful things that were used rarely or not at all and I vowed I would not  let them sit idle when they could be enjoyed.

Many years ago, I inherited a sterling silver cuff from my father's mother.  I do not remember this grandmother; she died when I was three years old, but there are pictures of her holding me very tightly which I have always cherished.  I am not sure how many years she had the cuff but my father tells me that she wore it every day until she died, when it was passed along to my aunt.

When my aunt died many years ago, I inherited it from her.  My grandmother's initials are carved on it and it is beautiful.

I decided several years ago that I would wear this bracelet daily.  It has become a bit of my talisman - I feel close to my grandmother when I wear it and I love having a piece of jewelry which is completely unique and meaningful.

But recently, a large fissure began to form in the back part of the cuff.  It is the type of cuff that must be gently loosened and then tightened when you put it on and take it off, and over the years that loosening and tightening has resulted in a fine crack that was threatening to break the bracelet completely.  I took it to the local jewelry repair shop and they did a wonderful job of repairing it, but warned me that it would happen again and that it really ought to only be worn for special occasions so as not to hasten the problem.

I agreed, but felt quite naked without my bracelet.  I decided I would look for a new bracelet in France, one that I could wear daily and that would have meaning.  I found such a bracelet in the south of France, in a little artisan's shop just up the lane from the house we were renting (Dani - you know the place well I am sure!).

There, on the table was a little silver bracelet of multiple hammered plates.  Lovely and delicate and meaningful as well, as now it would recall for me a lovely week spent in a lovely place!

It wasn't inexpensive, but it wasn't expensive either , so it was just right in my estimation.  It does not jangle, but sits daintily on my wrist.  I am so pleased to have found it and will sit nicely beside my grandmother's cuff on those rare occasions when I wear it.

Do you have such an heirloom or something similar?  I would love to hear about it!

Have a wonderful day!