When I was a child ...... My Mom had the normal big box of costume jewelry that resided on her dresser, but in one of her dresser drawers, there were 2 velvet covered, hinged boxes that were separate. They had some very nice sparklies in them and once in a while as she was getting ready to go out or something, I would ask her if I could take them out and she would let me. I would sit on her bed, spread them all out and try them on, one at a time, then look in the mirror to see how beautiful they looked on me. They were so special..... like the Queen owns..... or that is what it felt like to me. She had kept them over the years and probably had them since she was around 20'ish..... she is 86 now and I don't know the exact year she got them.
Although I have never had my eye set on her stuff as I don't want her to ever die and I have all I need...... it did cross my mind a time or two that if she DID go before me and if my sisters and I were ever choosing between what she had, that I would gladly give up the valuable diamond pieces and the gold, if they would consider letting me take these. Now.... I figured there would be no resistance in that since these don't have any big monetary value..... just sentimental princess value......and probably only to me.
This set was made by Kramer of New York, which if I understand correctly, created a vast amount of jewelry, mostly costume jewelry, but much, MUCH nicer than costume jewelry is today.
About 5 or 6 or 7 years ago, when gold and silver prices went up very high, my mom decided to sell some of Dad's silver and gold coins he collected. (He's been gone since 1997, so he didn't care) ha ha....but.... One place that was offering the highest prices locally was an antique store and while there selling silver and gold she found they buy antique jewelry too. Mom thought about it when she got home and decided she never wore these and decided to sell them to the store.
OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
She took the jewels and sold them one Saturday and that night she and Tommy (my step Dad) came to visit me at my apartment and in her story telling of what she had been doing that day, she told me what she had done. She had NO idea I felt that way about those jewels. When she told me she sold some, I asked if she had sold the pink set and she said yes. I was devastated, but they WERE hers to do as she pleased and although I was crushed a bit on the inside, I didn't let on.
The store didn't open till the next Monday. At the time I worked in the downtown a few blocks from the Antigue store, so on my break I walked down to the store and asked if they still had it. Since one little piece needed repair on the pink set the lady who owned the store with her husband, had taken the pink set home to have it repaired. When I asked if she'd sell it back to me, she said yes and within a few days she brought it back in..... and I bought it back.... plus a rhinestone bracelet that was Mom's and a crystal broach. There was one more piece I wish I had bought back, but by the time I decided I wanted it back, it was gone. Way too rare to stay in the store long. It had not been one of my favored pieces, so it was ok.
If she had not have just happened to stop in for a visit the night she did, I most likely would have never known what happened to these precious jewels from my childhood or if I had been told later, it most likely would have been to late to get them back.
So, happily in the end, I did get them back and later, I told my Mom what I had done. She was SO surprised and told me if she had any idea I felt that way about those pieces, that she would have gladly given them to me. There really was no way for her to know and I would have never asked her for them, I mean, she kept them for SO many years, that I thought they were sentimental to her!
Who knew she'd keep them for 60'ish years and then sell them to an antique shop?? LOL.... Not me!
So... there is my story of how I saved the family jewels. Fun story, right ?
Love you !
Jacey
OMG what a story! And it made me think of the jewellery my mum owns. And guess what.. she had a pink set (necklace and clips since she doesn't wear earnings) that I remember I so loved as a kid. Plastic ones and nothing fancy. But the necklace was big and PINK! Of course every girl would love it.
I have no idea if she still has it...
I wonder how many of us are out here, little girls with fond memories of pink jewels. Maybe you could ask, just for nostalgia's sake.
And thanks for the share.... that was very kind of you.
I am sure there is more :)
I definitely will, now that I remembered it.
Thank you SO much !
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Fun story indeed and I am so glad that you were able to rescue them! They are definitely princess jewelry! My mom, also 86, asked me if there was anything I wanted. She immediately gave me a few of the things that she said she was tired of dusting and a couple other things have my name on them. Now it will be my job to figure out who to pass the 'heirlooms' along to!
I know it is kind of funny to keep something that's only value is that it holds a memory. It mostly stays safely stored away, but very handily so that I can take them out at any time and zoom back to my childhood days. I have thought from time to time that I need to find a way to display them under glass or something, so they can be and active part of my bedroom decor. I haven't pursued that yet though.
Since I don't have anyone directly to pass things like this on too, I have thought first I need to document the few things I have that came to me from family, in case I go before my sisters, to make sure they don't get donated or yard sell'd without anyone at least knowing first. I do have nieces, but am not sure if anything I have from our past would be something that would hold any sentiment to them. Something to think on.
I gave one of my treasures, a ruby glass berry set, (a large bowl and 6 matching smaller bowls) that my grandparents had received as a wedding gift from a much loved uncle, to one of my cousins girls who had expressed an interest in it.
She sent me a FB message at Christmas time telling me she had used Aunt Eleanor's bowl and I realized the story had already been lost. I told her it had belonged to her great grandmother, not her aunt, and I wrote out the story of the wedding hoping it might make it more memorable for her. It made me realize how quickly the stories that go with my favorite heirlooms will be lost.
I thought about that sort of thing right after I posted my previous response, wondering how fast no one would have any idea of the origin of my precious things. I know as long as they hold sweet memories for me, that may be all that really matters, but sometimes when I acquire something old or just see things from estate sales, I catch myself pondering for a moment where the owners might have acquired them and what memories they may have held for someone else. I know every thing we own doesn't care that sort of meaning, but I still can't help but wonder sometimes.
My daughter bought me a delightful old frame at a garage sale and it holds the sweetest photo of a little girl from long ago. I couldn't bear to remove her from her frame so she sits among my family photos.
At a party with old friends last summer someone picked her up and asked, from across the room,'Melinda, who is this'? I responded 'oh, we don't know her' and it got the biggest laugh of the day.
She will completely confuse future generations!
That IS funny..... and sweet.
We already have photos with a generation or two ago and we already are not sure about some of them. I imagine if someone doesn't get with my great aunt, the last of her immediate family and find out, some of them will be forever lost already !
That is a really amazing story! I much enjoyed reading it!!! I think that would count as a #marketfriday but that would be for @dswigle to judge. Bet she would like the story anyways!
Isn't it funny? You just never know what kind of stories or situations will pop up through your life.... do you?
I think she would like the story too. I'm sure she'll get around too it one of these days.