Family traditions or stories regarding the giving and/ or receiving of jewelery

[onegirlcreative]

My grandmother on my mom's side gave me a 5 diamond emerald cut diamond ring. She told me the story that when i was in elementary school i had told her how shinny it was, and she give it to me before she passed away. I only recently learned that she had promised it to her 5 children but decided to give it to me her granddaughter. I

i love this. something similar happened when my aunt gave me her gorgeous YG ruby & diamond ring recently.

when i was in nyc a few years ago on business, thankfully i was able to have a brief visit with my aunt & uncle and my brother. we were at dinner one night, and my uncle recently purchased a gorgeous whopping 7 carat cushion or asscher (i don't remember which) diamond e-ring. it is amazing! like an ice cube.

anyway, while i was oggling her new e-ring (which by then was a few years old), i asked her about her YG ring and what she did with it. i asked if she ever wore it because i can't imagine wearing this 'ice cube' every single day, but knowing my aunt, she does.

at first, she didn't know which ring i was talking about so i described it in detail. i always admired this ring and of course, it was the first thing i had asked her about just out of curiosity since she had this new one.

not only was she shocked that i even remembered this ring at all, but i remembered it in detail.

she turns to me at dinner and says "you know what, i'm going to send it to you." i was like yeah whatever....at that point, i obviously didn't take her seriously.

a few weeks later, she calls me to tell me it's on its way. i couldn't believe it. of course she warned me that it was trashed and i definitely had to get it repaired—like i said, it cost me $1,600 to rebuild the gold and replace several stones. but i love it so much, it's worth it.

keep in mind, she has one child—a daughter, and two granddaughters. so the fact that she handed it down to me meant the world to me. she said the fact that i remembered it and loved it so much told her that i was meant to have it.

unfortunately her daughter will inherit the 'ice cube' and then her daughters.

 

[CMM]

I am from a Mexican family and jewelry has been a very big part of my life.

I was gifted my first pair of diamond studs at 3 months, from an uncle with no children, when my ears were pierced (they now reside in a safety deposit box and will hopefully be gifted to a daughter one day).

I was given a small gold cross for my first communion from my grammy which was later upgraded to a diamond cross for my confirmation. Oddly enough, I am marrying a Jewish man so I will not have much use for my crosses, so they are going to be gifted to my brother if and when he has a daughter, so that they will remain in the family.

Grammy (the main jewelry giver and lover in my family) gave me my first birthstone ring (sapphire) at 13 and gave me an upgraded version at 16.

For my 18th birthday I was given a diamond pendant from grammy and matching diamond studs from my parents.

I was young and stupid at 21 and requested Tiffany jewelry for that birthday. I was given the pieces that I wanted, but in retrospect, wish I had gone for something more classic and not just some trendy sterling silver pieces.

I came to my senses at 25 and grammy gave me her first strand of pearls. She had been given the strand by my grandpy when they got married and I was honored that she picked me to receive them (she has 3 daughter including my mom and one other granddaughter).

For my 27th birthday (which was a totally random birthday but grammy had fallen severly ill that year and was in the hospital) I was given my most favorite piece of jewelry in my collection (well aside from my engagement ring)- an antique cocktail ring that my grammy had worn daily since she got it for her 21st birthday. The stone had been walked over from Mexico when my grammy and her family came to the US and had been kept in a safe for my grammy until it was gifted to her. It is a ~3.5/4 ct aquamarine set in a six prong white gold setting. It is stunning and I get so many compliments when I wear it.

Grammy is still with us (almost 90) and she has told me she has one last gift for me for my wedding...I am dying to know what it is!

 

[918Lux]

My grandmother and my mother both used the same marquise center stone for their e-rings, one day I will, too. When my parents were first married my dad told my mom he could afford either to put a down payment on a house or buy her a diamond so she chose the house and my grandmother got an upgrade to her ring (7ct round brilliant) and gave my mother the 1.25ct marquise. When my grandfather passed away my grandmother gave my mother her upgraded ring and my mom told me that her marquise was mine to use however I wanted it. I decided that when I get engaged I will have it set east-west and hopefully will have my own daughter to pass it on to one day.

 

[angelicskater16]

My grandmother has 2 daughters and 3 granddaughters and my oldest cousin got all of her diamonds... i was just thankful my grandmother thought to give it to me. Your aunt must have a BEAUTIFUL collection of jewelry!!! i LOVE jewelry!!!

i love this. something similar happened when my aunt gave me her gorgeous YG ruby & diamond ring recently.

when i was in nyc a few years ago on business, thankfully i was able to have a brief visit with my aunt & uncle and my brother. we were at dinner one night, and my uncle recently purchased a gorgeous whopping 7 carat cushion or asscher (i don't remember which) diamond e-ring. it is amazing! like an ice cube.

anyway, while i was oggling her new e-ring (which by then was a few years old), i asked her about her YG ring and what she did with it. i asked if she ever wore it because i can't imagine wearing this 'ice cube' every single day, but knowing my aunt, she does.

at first, she didn't know which ring i was talking about so i described it in detail. i always admired this ring and of course, it was the first thing i had asked her about just out of curiosity since she had this new one.

not only was she shocked that i even remembered this ring at all, but i remembered it in detail.

she turns to me at dinner and says "you know what, i'm going to send it to you." i was like yeah whatever....at that point, i obviously didn't take her seriously.

a few weeks later, she calls me to tell me it's on its way. i couldn't believe it. of course she warned me that it was trashed and i definitely had to get it repaired—like i said, it cost me $1,600 to rebuild the gold and replace several stones. but i love it so much, it's worth it.

keep in mind, she has one child—a daughter, and two granddaughters. so the fact that she handed it down to me meant the world to me. she said the fact that i remembered it and loved it so much told her that i was meant to have it.

unfortunately her daughter will inherit the 'ice cube' and then her daughters.

 

[JessicaRabbit1]

Hi Beautiful TPF-ers!

I have been searching for information about heirloom jewellery and I haven't been able to find any (please point me in the right direction if there is one). The reason I am asking is because I think about it with my jewellery, and I wonder when a buy a new piece if it will be able to be used for a long time, and by someone else when I'm gone, especially when the pieces are super expensive. Is this something other people think about?

I would like to know what pieces you have inherited, and whether you plan on passing any pieces down. Feel free to attach pictures, and do a show and story. I would love to know what you think about passing pieces down maybe to a son/daughter/other family member, and if this is part of your plan.

I don't mean to be rude or indelicate, I am simply curious. I know it can be a sensitive area, so if you could please keep the topic as positive and uplifting as possible.

Thank you to anyone who shares! xx

 

[cdtracing]

I have several pieces I want to pass down to family. I only have 1 niece who doesn't particularly care for jewelry. I have sons who are not married & don't have children. Since I have no daughters or grandchildren to pass items down to, I have it in my will to bequeath some favorite pieces to very close friends who will wear them & have fond memories of times we spent together. I also have it in my will that my sons may choose any 1 piece of jewelry as a rememberance. My niece will receive the heirloom pieces I have along with the history of who it belonged to, which side of the family it came from, ect since I have no female children, grandchildren to pass it on to unless one of my sons gives me a grandaughter before I pass away. The rest will be sold & the money will be divided between a Rottweiller Rescue of my choosing & a Wounded Veteran charity of my husband's choosing. I'll try to take some pictures of a few of the items I have with their history & post them tomorrow.

 

[JessicaRabbit1]

I have several pieces I want to pass down to family. I only have 1 niece who doesn't particularly care for jewelry. I have sons who are not married & don't have children. Since I have no daughters or grandchildren to pass items down to, I have it in my will to bequeath some favorite pieces to very close friends who will wear them & have fond memories of times we spent together. I also have it in my will that my sons may choose any 1 piece of jewelry as a rememberance. My niece will receive the heirloom pieces I have along with the history of who it belonged to, which side of the family it came from, ect since I have no female children, grandchildren to pass it on to unless one of my sons gives me a grandaughter before I pass away. The rest will be sold & the money will be divided between a Rottweiller Rescue of my choosing & a Wounded Veteran charity of my husband's choosing. I'll try to take some pictures of a few of the items I have with their history & post them tomorrow.

Thank you for sharing! this is really interesting. It is so lovely of you to consider two charitable causes as well.
I cant wait to see your pictures!
Did you change your decision on the pieces you purchased, with your family in mind?

xx

 

[the_black_tie_diyer]

Hi,

Without going into to much details publicly:

I have a will that covers different "outcomes" depending wether life continues it's considered/expected natural path or an unexpected fatal accident/ terminal illness should happen.

In the first case it's simple, my SO inherits everything.

In the second case it's not as simple. Depending on who is "left" to inherit there are different arrangements.

Should we ever have children, which I can't see for the foreseeable future - I would maybe have to make slight adjustments/amendments. But then again I would absolutely trust my SO to handle this perfectly well if needed.

I think it's important to have this sorted overall, but it's really not something that defines how I live or how I spent and what I buy here & now.

I'm actually more concerned with having an advance health care directive set up right now, but that doesn't belong here.

As always, all IMHO and absolutely no mal/ill intend!

Kind regards,
Oliver

 

[JessicaRabbit1]

Hi,

Without going into to much details publicly:

I have a will that covers different "outcomes" depending wether life continues it's considered/expected natural path or an unexpected fatal accident/ terminal illness should happen.

In the first case it's simple, my SO inherits everything.

In the second case it's not as simple. Depending on who is "left" to inherit there are different arrangements.

Should we ever have children, which I can't see for the foreseeable future - I would maybe have to make slight adjustments/amendments. But then again I would absolutely trust my SO to handle this perfectly well if needed.

I think it's important to have this sorted overall, but it's really not something that defines how I live or how I spent and what I buy here & now.

I'm actually more concerned with having an advance health care directive set up right now, but that doesn't belong here.

As always, all IMHO and absolutely no mal/ill intend!

Kind regards,
Oliver

Thanks for a very useful insight! Really appreciate it!
Thank you for saying it doesn't affect your buying decisions. I was wondering if it did for some people or even being mindful of how it effects my own buying decisions (eventhough I don't have any children).
Thanks again!

 

[Joule]

My son will receive everything of mine whether he wants it or not. Most of the jewelry I've bought for myself was picked out by him, anyway. He can do with it as he sees fit.

 

[remainsilly]

My family has passed down a gold pocket watch.
With our crest, from the old country.
It goes to the oldest son.
My father received it & had only a daughter.
Left it to me anyway.
I chose no children route, so guess tradition ends.

 

[cdtracing]

Thank you for sharing! this is really interesting. It is so lovely of you to consider two charitable causes as well.
I cant wait to see your pictures!
Did you change your decision on the pieces you purchased, with your family in mind?

xx

I have alway bought & worn what I like reguardless of trendy moments in time. I generally prefer classic pieces that will stand the test of time but I do like big jewelry with presence. The only jewelry that I ever gave any real thought to is the jewelry I've gotten from my mother, grandmother, aunts & great aunts. These are pieces I would like to stay in the family. I have a fair amount of Native American Turquoise jewelry that I have collected over the years, with the majority being from the 40's, 50's, 60's, & early 70's. This is jewelry my niece has no interest in but I have a very dear friend who loves it & has borrowed pieces to wear on occasion over the years. She will gifted as many pieces as she wants from that collection because she will wear them, enjoy them, & tell our story. Anything she does not want will be sold.

 

[LanaA]

My culture is that girls get their ears pierced as a baby with gold or diamond earrings and wear gold bangles and colored bangles if she wants and silver anklets.
A girl is supposed to wear gold jewelry throughout her life. A girls wedding day is where everyone is supposed/required to give them diamond and gold jewelry. Also on anniversaries and holidays.
When I got married my in laws gave me diamonds so old that you cannot find them in any mine. I.e. my husbands grandmother gave me blue jagger diamond earrings. My mother handed down the gold necklace my grandfather made her on her wedding day and a heavy gold bangle set. I believe gold is supposed to be like an investment where as diamonds more of something to wear.
I dont have children and dont plan to so all my jewelry will go to my nieces and nephews.

 

[BigPurseSue]

My family has passed down a gold pocket watch.
With our crest, from the old country.
It goes to the oldest son.
My father received it & had only a daughter.
Left it to me anyway.
I chose no children route, so guess tradition ends.

I also have a gold pocket watch that was passed down through the generations through the oldest sons. My dad received it but like your dad only had a daughter. I believe some ancestor received it upon their retirement from working on the railroad but even that I'm not entirely sure about. I framed it in a shadow box. I suppose I should use the Internet to track down some male relative to pass it on.

 

[remainsilly]

I also have a gold pocket watch that was passed down through the generations through the oldest sons. My dad received it but like your dad only had a daughter. I believe some ancestor received it upon their retirement from working on the railroad but even that I'm not entirely sure about. I framed it in a shadow box. I suppose I should use the Internet to track down some male relative to pass it on.

My grandparents immigrated to US. Watch was brought then.
Yes, good idea to find relative.
Could be fun to research.