Having recently written about which piece of heart jewelry I would choose if I could only have one (I chose a heart charm) I decided to ask some of my English family members and friends, both male and female, what they would choose. This first posting on the subject is from the ladies perspective and their ages ranged from early teens to an eighty eight year old Great Grandmother.
First of all I asked the question “Do you have a favorite piece of jewelry?” and then followed on with the question about what sort of heart jewelry they would choose if they could only have one piece. As you can imagine they all had very different answers and some of them quite surprised me.
The most popular selection was a heart shaped necklace but for very different reasons. My daughter’s favorite jewelry item is her eternity ring which her husband bought her when she had their son, understandable really. When asked what article of heart jewelry she would like someone to buy for her, she chose a yellow gold heart necklace for no other reason than that she does not have one and would really like one.
One of my friend’s teenage daughters would also choose a heart shaped necklace but her metal of choice would be silver (she also quite likes the ones encrusted with crystal or cubic zircon) as it “goes with more stuff”. Although she was wearing bracelets and earrings she said the silver teddy bear necklace she was wearing was the favorite of all her jewelry.
A heart necklace was also chosen by one of my friends who is quite petite and not the least bit extrovert so her choice of a chunky necklace not made of precious metals or gemstones came as a bit of a surprise. When I asked her why she would choose that design she told me that it would look “funky”. This from a lady whose style is always understated and never outrageous!
Before I asked my Mom about her favorite jewelry I knew what her answer would be. It is the diamond solitaire that my Dad bought her two years before he died. I don’t ever remember my Mom wearing any jewelry except her wedding ring and her watch until she received the diamond ring so it came as a surprise that she would like a heart shaped ring because she would like more rings. Who would have guessed that this eighty eight year old Great Grandma would still be interested in collecting jewelry?
I think the answers that most surprised me came from another of my friends. She doesn’t have any favorite jewelry because she says she is not comfortable wearing it and although she has some costume jewelry she never thinks of putting it on. When she was younger she had her ears pierced and used to wear gold earrings and she also had a gold signet ring but as she got older she stopped wearing them and now the only thing she wears is her wedding band. Although she thinks jewelry looks nice on some people she wouldn’t want any, but she may possibly wear a heart ring.
The youngest member said that her favorite jewelry items were bracelets and she wore two or three at a time varying from plain bangle types to charm bracelets and a mixture of costume jewelry and more expensive ones. I thought she would therefore choose a heart bracelet as her choice for heart jewelry, especially as she was wearing a very pretty one on the day I spoke to her, but that was not the case. Instead she suggested that a delicate and tasteful pair of silver heart earrings would probably be her favorite because she could wear them every day and they would go with any outfit.
Her Mom also said that her favorite jewelry pieces were bracelets and even if she didn’t wear any other item of jewelry she felt “bare” and as if something was missing if she didn’t have a bracelet on. Not surprisingly she said that she would choose a heart bracelet in either silver or white gold as they were her precious metals of choice. If it was to be a gift from her husband she said she would have to tell him exactly which one she wanted and where to buy it from so that she received the right one as her tastes and his differed so much.
Talking to my friends and family made me realize that women choose their jewelry for a variety of reasons and what one likes may not be right for everybody. It also showed me that not every woman shares a love of jewelry. One thing they all agreed on, though, was that if someone bought them a heart shaped necklace, heart earrings or any other piece of heart jewelry it would show how much that person loved them.
