I guess there’s an appeal to “heirloom jewelry” in all places and at all times. But Southern women keep this tradition alive and well. Maybe it’s the preference for classic and timeless pieces that make it easier to pass them down.
I have a couple of rings of my maternal grandmother’s including her “moonstone” ring. She told me that it originally belonged to her grandmother who was given it by her father because she had helped to take care of one of her little brothers when he was very sick at birth. I suspect that’s made up (my grandmother, truly, “never let the truth ruin a good story”).
But she told me it was handed down to her when she had done a good thing and she passed it on to me. I’m pretty sure I was her favorite. At least i always felt that way.
One of the stones in the ring would literally roll. It was slightly loose and so very round that it would spin in it’s setting. Apparently it had done this forever because when my grandmother was in the nursing home and suffering from dementia, she noticed the ring on my finger and even with her impaired memory asked me “does it still roll”?
Yep, it still does.
(Source: anthropologie, via prepitude)
