wearing jewellery

This is one of those days when I toss an idle thought into the universe and see what (if anything) comes back.  

I've never been much into jewellery.  I might have a silver pendant I wear as a talisman against the skin rather than for decoration.  Like a security blanket that people don't look at you funny if you drape it around your neck.   I also wear a pocket watch as it's less dangerous on the farm than having something firmly strapped to the body like a wristwatch.  If I'm going out in public I might wear one of the smaller watches as a necklace instead of a pocket watch, and I kind of like the dramatic look of having such a chunky decoration on a fairly fine chain (for the size of the watch).  But mostly this started because I was in too much of a hurry to put the new watch on a fob chain and I needed to know when to head home to feed the sheep - so of course, I needed to wear the watch with the sheep on it to remind me why I needed to know the time.  But I digress.  

And I think that's where this thought started.  

Yesterday youtube decided I wanted to watch the Antiques Roadshow.  I binged watched a few episodes while weaving and more while cleaning the house.   I noticed that when they compare the estimated value from when the show aired to what it's worth today, most of the jewellery - especially the vintage and antique costume stuff - is about half what it was worth 10 years ago.  There's never been a better time to invest in vintage and antique costume jewellery (except maybe 100 years ago, that would have been a good investment).

It also reminded me how much I like the look of the Art Deco, Arts and Crafts, and the general look of the 1920s-1940s costume jewellery.  Particularly some of the brooches.

I don't think I've ever worn a brooch.  

I have a couple of decorative penannular that I love wearing but I have few occasions to wear a blanket or cloak in permies.  But I do often wear a sweater.  We can pin things on sweaters and aren't so likely to get choked by our adornment as with a necklace.  

What are the hazards of wearing jewellery?  I could lose it.  It could get caught in machinery or on livestock.  It draws attention to you and makes you stand out as a weirdo because no one wears brooches grocery shopping anymore.  

I could probably think of a dozen more reasons not to wear jewellery.  

And yet.  I kind of like the idea of trying it out.  

Do people wear jewellery anymore?  I notice people wearing earrings or affordable small necklaces, but very seldom do I see people doing their daily activities wearing bling.  Maybe my city is just too drab?  

Since you even know what a pennanular is, I have made the clunky chunky heavy wool cloak ones but  I have also made smaller ones about the size of a loonie or 50 cent piece that folks use on something less bulky a kerchief, affixed on a hat, it could also be used as a broche. My wifes friend uses her hat pin to affix scarves too.

My favourite penannular is a reproduction of an Anglo-Saxon one where it looks like they used wire to make the sections, then filled it in with some sort of lacquer or enamel or something colourful.  It's got gold-coloured metal and red decoration on the ends.  

But the pin isn't very strong so I can only use it on lightweight fabrics or for decoration.  I might replace the pin one day.  

I wear my wedding ring, when my weight is high enough that it will stay on, lol. I also wear a silver chain with a small heart shaped urn locket, with my dad's ashes inside and his birthstone on the front, in a cluster of medals - St Christopher, St Benedict, St Cecelia, & a Miraculous medal. There's one more I plan to add - St Michael.

For dressing-up jewelry, I have a few rings, a few pins, a few brooches, a few nice necklaces - fresh-water pearls, white jade, and a couple others, and quite a few pair of earrings (which I wear so infrequently, my piercings usually close up in between wearings). I rarely wear any of those, though. I find it ridiculous for me to wear them for the livestock & other farm chores, and usually, though not always forget to wear them for 'date nights', so they tend to be relegated to weddings and other special gatherings, holiday parties, etc.

But, I also make jewelry & other trinkets & accessories, so... La.

Robert Ray wrote:Since you even know what a pennanular is, I have made the clunky chunky heavy wool cloak ones but  I have also made smaller ones about the size of a loonie or 50 cent piece that folks use on something less bulky a kerchief, affixed on a hat, it could also be used as a broche. My wifes friend uses her hat pin to affix scarves too.

The leaf is beautiful!

Because I don't ever wear makeup and rarely dress up, I usually use a pair of earrings to signal that I'm going out and not going to end up covered in mud. I like large hoops, bright designs and recently a friend beaded me a beautiful pair on home-tanned hide and they are now my favourite.

In other news, I wanted to get something special to adorn my 2023 big project so I wondered around Etsy a while looking at their vintage jewellery selection.  When I narrowed it down to half a dozen pretty shiny things, I did a reverse image search on each one.  It turns out that ALL of the ones I choose were available on Amazon, most of them for about half the price.  The one I was most attracted to was $40+ shipping on Etsy and $2.49 (no shipping) on Amazon.  

Thank you Google reverse image search.

I agree with R Ranson, this is a good time to be picking up these things if you know what you like and how to identify it. I've had two amazing finds of "good" necklaces in antique/thrift stores where they had no idea what they were selling.

One is red coral strung with handmade silver beads, was in the original box from 1920s Corsica, got it at a pawnshop that specialized more in old furniture and they were tired of having it taking up space. Strangers regularly come up to me and ask me if I would sell it (usually when i'm in the airport, lol), I think red coral is endangered now and very hard to find.
The other is real amber with silver. It was for sale at a church thrift store as costume jewelry, they thought it was plastic but I have always loved amber and knew it wasn't, I think I paid 3 bucks.
I wear them only occasionally, I run a few times a week and sweat/shower is not great for these stones, so I usually wear a St Jude medal instead (i'm not that flavor of religious but I love the idea of a saint of hopeless causes, and he's not let me down yet).

I also have a penannular brooch!! I knit myself a nice big shawl specifically to use with it. weather is turning here and i'll probably get it out of storage this weekend, will have to take a pic.

I inherited a lot of costume jewelry from several relatives so I used to sell jewelry on eBay.

A lot of that jewelry was really rather unique and sold for a lot of money.  One piece I remember was all wood beads.

About ten years ago I had a cubic zirconia ring I wore when we went to town. Otherwise, I don't wear jewelry.

R. Ransom, if you like brooches, I feel like you would really appreciate these:

That moth is gorgeous!  I wish I had the finger dexterity to do beading.  I could make white/grey one like a silk moth.  

I don't wear much jewelry either, but when married did wear a wedding band. It was not always smart as I have had it catch on things, and heard of people having their fingers ripped off because of that problem. Tungsten wedding bands for men are the worst because they are super hard and the bolt cutters paramedics carry for such emergencies do not work on such hardened metals.

But one thing worse than getting your ring caught, is rubbing it across a contactor of some sort. That will leave a nice burn right around your finger. Working around starters and batteries is where it can happen, but since I work with so much electricity, it can happen where I work too. We have our rubber gloves tested because... well.. you don't get much of a second chance to do it the right way with 34,500 volts, or even stray voltage inside substations. Our employer would love to have rules against wedding bands, but the Union will not allow the rule to go into place.

But despite the above post, I am not against wearing jewelry at all.

I am retired from homesteading now, but when we were active in it, it was nice to actually dress up and go out and leave the dirty, grimy day of homesteading. It was actually fun, and most times (then and now) we are the best dressed people in a restaurant or other venue because people just do not dress up anymore. It really is too bad as you feel how you are dressed. We never try to be something we are not, but there is something to be said about having class, and people treat you with class when you show class. Jewlery can be part of that. Not so much for men, but for a lady it can really make a difference.

And what is wrong with her feeling like that regal lady that I see her as? The whole world is depressed according to statistics and yet why wouldn't they be? Most dress in frumpy jeans and t-shirts and wonder why they feel down? On a farm, getting nasty and dirty, yeah that has its place, when going out, its a time to take pride in yourself and who you are. People have been floored when we told them we were farmers.

But I did that when I worked at a place that took household garbage and turned it into electricity. I was wearing the company supplied clothes, but we had a locker room and showers, so after work shift was over, I dressed in slacks, dress shoes and a button up or button down shirt and looked like I was going to church. That was all for me; the work day was over, my turn in the garbage was done, and the presentable me came out. It is the same way on the homestead, the most vile of nasty jobs sometimes, but I don't have to stay wallowed in that kind of place. How you dress can make a real difference in how you feel about yourself.

I would never recommend a couple spend lavishly on clothes or jewelry when I know so much costly things on a homestead needs to be bought, but gifts for your spouse can mean feeling special and loving, and at some point, you have to invest a little in your own self-worth and marriage. Nice clothing and jewelry can help in that.

I agree, Steve. Yet, I also believe the reverse applies - our mode of dress can cause or add to our negative state of mind, or it can be a reflection of what's going on in our mind, already. Sometimes, when we're down, dressing up can be a step in the right direction, toward helping improve our mindset. Those are times when I feel a beautiful piece of jewelry, particularly if it also has sentimental value, can truly make a difference. I have a few pieces - that white jade necklace being one of them - that have very special meaning or memories attached, that make me feel beautiful. Another few, for me, are 3 completely different vintage brooches - one is a Christmas tree, one is a stylized flower, the third is a beetle, all are done in glass 'jewels', made in the 1940s, gifted from a dear friend who told me some things she thought of me that brought tears to my eyes, and a huge, tearful bear hug. She passed away, a few months later, of colon cancer. Just looking at and touching them brings bittersweet, precious memories. Wearing these cherished pieces reminds me of her earnest words, and boosts my confidence and mood. ~wandering off down memory lane...~

As I sit here I am not wearing any jewellery. I usually wear earrings when I go out (even just shopping) but even then I will sometimes realise I am half way to the shops and have forgotten to put them in. I have not worn my wedding ring since I had our children as my fingers swelled up with pregnancy and never went back to normal. I could, of course, have had my ring resized but somehow it has never been important and Mr Ara and I are still married. (He has never worn a wedding ring.) I wear more jewellery for church - earrings, rings and, depending on which coat I am wearing, a brooch. I tend not to wear necklaces as I don't like to feel things around my throat.

r ranson wrote:
Do people wear jewellery anymore?  I notice people wearing earrings or affordable small necklaces, but very seldom do I see people doing their daily activities wearing bling.  Maybe my city is just too drab?  

Who gives a flip what other people do? JK, I do. Totally wear something if you want to! I love the idea of pocket watches. I might start that. I collect old brooches, I have some really wild ones from the 60's and 70's. Rings are super cool too. I'm currently collecting lockets from different time periods, just cause they're cool.

For people who can't wear wedding rings while on the job-wouldn't that be cool to get a tattoo ring? And then wear your actual ring over it when you can.

Almond Thompson wrote:For people who can't wear wedding rings while on the job-wouldn't that be cool to get a tattoo ring? And then wear your actual ring over it when you can.

It would be horrible if you ever got a divorce, and a constant reminder I wouldn't need and couldn't escape if they passed before me.

I'm starting to be known as the brooch person.  Got a really sweet 1960s Trifari brooch as a gift from a friend.  It's a pretty silver colour metal that hasn't tarnished (so not silver), and doesn't feel like chrome as it's a mix of texture and shine.  I would almost say stainless steel but wrong decade and it's a bit too heavy for that.  Anyway, I love it!

When I started the thread, I had 2 or 3 that I had picked up at yardsales (never spend more than $2 for jewellery, that's my motto).  Now I'm up to 9!

Birds - chicken, humming bird, owl (all birds with great mythology behind them so perfect for different occasions.

Botanical - lavender (possibly my favourite), random blue flower, and of course, a really cheap version of the Lord of the Rings leaf.  There's also a morning reef with black flowers in black and clear fake gems.  

Odd ones - the new double bow/knot Trifari, and a silkworm because that's my entire life for one month in the summer and it's weird to wear a caterpillar.


So now I've got just about enough that they get hard to find in my little bowl on my desk.  I might have to find some way to store these.  A ribbon on the wall?  

Also, I need to find out how to replace a clasp as the chicken doesn't have a safety on the clasp and it comes undone.

Apparently, it's made from Trifanium

TRIFANIUM
In 1947 Trifari patented a shiny metal alloy which didn’t tarnish. Silver in colour it could be plated with gold to create what they referred to as ‘golden-toned Trifanium’ or plated with rhodium to create the silver coloured look that they named the aspirational ‘platinum-toned Trifanium’. From the 1950s onwards Trifanium formed the base of almost all of Trifari’s jewellery. It has lived up to its credentials. It’s very rare to find a Trifari piece from the 1950s or later on which the metal has tarnished or corroded.

source

I sometimes wear a necklace for a few hours.  Then it breaks and I lose it.

Susan Mené wrote:I sometimes wear a necklace for a few hours.  Then it breaks and I lose it.

I'm glad if a necklace breaks, otherwise, I'm going with it into whatever machine or rampaging livestock caused it to break.

That's why I'm sticking with brooches for now.  And also the two-dollar rule.  

some pictures of some of the older brooches.

Here's the lavender one.  Can't find any information on it, but the person who sold it said it was from a collection they acquired from an older person in the 1960s.  I don't know.  It looks like it could be anywhere in the 20th Century, 'though probably not the 90s.



My Trafari Brooch with the double bow motif.  Pretty!  



The latest addition from a yard sale, my Adderly Floral double dogwood hand-painted in bone china.  The marking on the back suggests it's from between the Wars.  But that could be a replacement piece as they made this for most of the first half of the 20th Century.  



The history is fun, but I'm not too bothered about it as I'm not planning on reselling these any time soon.  

Thanks to google's reverse image search, it looks like it's not lavender but heather.  Here's a bit about the history https://www.vintagejewelsgeek.co.uk/2009/04/

I will wear semi-precious stone pendants; more so when I was teaching.  I taught myself to enamel and make earrings for myself, to sell, and to give as gifts.  Vermont is very monochromatic in winter: everything is black and white and the sky is usually gray...Having the kiln going on a cold day and working with lovely colors does my heart good.  It is very much just a cold weather endeavor along with quilting.  Once the weather is warm enough to be outside, the enameling is forgotten until the next cold day.
I also sew a lot of the clothing I wear. (rainy days) If I don't have the perfect pair of earrings to go with an outfit, I'll bring some fabric to my studio and come up with a design.  Most of my jewelry is inspired by nature: I have geese and evergreens and ocean scenes. I love picking out the shape that I'll cut the copper from and then playing with combinations of color.  

I love bling.  Especially pearls. I have a string of black freshwater pearls and some Tahitians. I work in an office so I wear them to work. A really great website gor vintage jewellery is 100 Ways out of BC. Nice vintage and some antique pieces.

I have been collecting cheap brooches and jewelry to make decorative frames, for gifts. It’s a very fun hobby. I buy frames from the thrift shops along with the jewelry. I glue the pieces with E6000.

I only wear my wedding ring. Twenty four years ago, I started carrying a phone with me and so I stopped wearing my grandfather's wristwatch.

People have talked about the risk of getting a ring caught on machinery or whatever, but one time, my wife closed the car door on my daughter's hand by mistake and her titanium fidget ring held the door apart. She still panicked at being trapped until we got the door open (like 1.5 seconds later), but wasn't hurt at all. So sometimes they can be armor!

Christopher Weeks wrote:People have talked about the risk of getting a ring caught on machinery or whatever, but one time, my wife closed the car door on my daughter's hand by mistake and her titanium fidget ring held the door apart. She still panicked at being trapped until we got the door open (like 1.5 seconds later), but wasn't hurt at all. So sometimes they can be armor!

Yikes! That was lucky, for a couple of reasons... mostly the titanium is less likely to be bent, and (without knowing your car) modern cars are more lightweight therefore a bit more "flexible" than those from the 1970's for instance, and take less effort to close.

Even without bending/crimping a ring onto your finger while wearing it, trauma to the hand/finger can cause swelling making the ring too tight to remove. This can cut off circulation to the finger which is quite dangerous! Always try to remove a ring immediately when something such as this happens, before any swelling starts, try soap or oil if needed. If it isn't possible to remove, get help right away. Most emergency departments at hospitals (or maybe an urgent care) have a ring saw, or one could try a jeweler's shop (who could also repair the ring)... DIY with wire cutters?

The concern with jewelry and industrial/farm "machinery" is much more serious than any "household/car" hazards. There is NO situation that I can think of where jewelry is safe, let alone be considered "armor".

Kenneth Elwell wrote:The concern with jewelry and industrial/farm "machinery" is much more serious than any "household/car" hazards. There is NO situation that I can think of where jewelry is safe, let alone be considered "armor".

Yeah, I didn't really mean to be advocating for lax safety precautions, just taking advantage of the subject to relay an interesting anecdote. I take my ring off even when just using the drill press! (Spinning shafts freak me out since learning to use the metal lathe in high school. :-) )

Oh please yes, let's celebrate the joy when we put on a special piece and conjure up all the good memories associated with them, and how they lift our spirit. Of course, never endanger yourself, but please not loose the good feelings they bring us.

You asked in your daily-ish, so I'll give my answer.
I am not a jewellery-wearing type. For special occasions I have holes in my earlobes, to put in small (stud) earrings in (made of gold, I'm allergic to most other metals).
I do have a few necklaces, but hardly every wear them. Most of those I inherited (from one of my aunts). Also a few inherited brooches are in my jewellery box. I even have bracelets, but I NEVER wear those, and I don't wear a watch, I don't like having something around my wrist that isn't made of wool ...
Edited because I forgot: I don't wear my rings anymore. They feel 'dangerous' when I work in the garden or do other work with my hands.

There's one occasion when I do wear some kind of jewellery, that is when I do prehistoric re-enactment. Then I wear self-made strings with bone things, and one with a stone-with-a-hole, dangling around my neck. To show what I make: string/cordage of natural materials. :-D

I find most modern jewelry physically uncomfortable. Rings are either small enough to cut off my circulation or large enough to impinge on the neighboring finger. Chain necklaces pull on the hairs at the back of my neck, and rigid torcs dig into my clavicles. Bracelets aggravate my tendency towards RSI. Earrings are fine, until I forget to take them out before going to bed and wake up with a sore spot.

This pretty much leaves me with beaded necklaces, pins, and hair jewelry. I love me a baroque (cultured) pearl rope, though that length is for fancy-dress occasions, not daily wear. The baroque pearls just look more down-to-earth than the perfectly round ones. And a have a small collection of hairsticks. Would like to make my own some day.

I do were jewelry, but not very often.  I tend to lose earrings and wedding rings.  I'm thinking of getting one additional piercing in one ear to be able to use all the single earrings I have in a bowl near my bed side.  My husband still loves me even though I'm on my 5th or is it 6th wedding ring.  I thought you all might enjoy a pic of one brooch from my grand daughter for Christmas a couple years ago.  I think it goes particularly well on my beat up Carhart jacket.

I have often wondered why it seems wearing pretty jewelry has gone out of style. Maybe I just don't understand the emotional attachment to things I don't think are pretty. I love my pretty stuff, and I wear it anytime I can. And working I can't... Or can I? I got creative!!

I wear wide brim hats against the sun, most of my life was spent in the desert, all of my family except me has skin cancer, I try to keep it that way. I went through a bad stage of depression after I moved when all I ever seemed to wear were grubby work clothes and I looked so bad I hated seeing myself in a mirror. I put effort into making myself work clothes I think are pretty, it helps. But I still couldn't safely wear jewelry... Until I got creative...  :D

My sun hats all have pretty bands on them that I match to my clothes, and a brooch at the back where the band's tails are  (If you have read my sewing threads, you might recognize the pink and blue bands as matching my tick-proof work pants!)



When it's going to be windy, I have some hats that I have put chin straps on (often bits of lace that I can tie) and they have beaded strands that are heavy, plus a brooch, which makes them heavier against the wind.



The brooches and bands get moved around on my hats a lot, to match whatever I'm wearing. I don't wear my best jewelry on the tractor, I buy a lot of brooches just for work hats, knowing I like them, but don't mind if the brushcutter eats them.

I also wear brooches on my sweaters, usually center of the neck. I'm always cold, so I wear sweaters with a turtleneck under them, and pick a brooch that brings the under color up onto the sweater. This gray sweater usually gets worn with a pink or green turtleneck, and this brooch spends a lot of time on this sweater.

Brooch on a sweater

This sweater is long, I folded it up for the pic so you can see the pattern on the bottom. I often wear it with a burgundy skirt, burgundy turtleneck, and this brooch, which is a super cheap plastic one that's cute, with a spray of glass beads threaded on the brooch pin. Always looks nice, I always get a lot of compliments on the outfit.

Cheap brooch plus glass beads matches this sweater beautifully!

I wear long skirts when I'm not working, and due to problems with my knees, I have tripped before when I couldn't step right. I use a brooch to gather the skirt so it's up about 4 inches above my right foot, and that's just enough to keep me from tripping. Some brooch pins are not strong enough for this, so the skirt is gathered with a safety pin, and brooch added on top so it's only holding it's own weight. Some skirts I change the brooches a lot, and just leave them pinned up all the time so I can swap out brooches easily and the gather is always right.
I inset a pic of the brooch on this one, as I left a lot of skirt showing to show the gathers.

Skirt gathered with a brooch, with inset pic of the brooch

Some of my brooches end up on necklaces, this is one of my favorites, (does not get worn for work!) always attracts a lot of attention, goes with a lot of my clothes including my favorite black cashmere sweater. That sweater, this necklace and a pair of jeans can go anywhere and look lovely and be comfortable. The brooch was one of my expensive (for me) ones... 15.00 at an antique shop. The necklace it's on is shells, was a very long single strand when I got it, I doubled it, and added the brooch.

Vintage brooch on a shell necklace

And just out of silliness, this was what's not in use right now, but is up for use. I was a costumer, I moved a LOT of jewelry, most of which is still in storage. A lot of these are hat brooches for work hats, gold toned metal with glass or plastic or paint on them. On average I pay $1.00 each for them, hard to not pick up anything I like at that price.

A pile of brooches

Some days I look like this, and I don't know which brooch was on that hat right then, but there was one.
I call this look "The Phantom of the Brushcutter" as my face shade glasses really add a zing of weirdness... But I don't have to wear sunscreen while working :D

The Phantom of the Brushcutter, who has a pretty brooch on her hat

So yeah, I wear my bling! Just because I'm working doesn't mean I can't have fun and feel cute too!

Just have to be more creative to be safe. Kenneth, a few posts up, mentioned cutting off jewelry when injured, I had to cut a ring off once, caught it in the carburetor linkage on a running VW engine that was getting it's fuel/air adjusted. Glad I had vice grips in my back pocket! The engine belt was RIGHT there....  I'm VERY CAREFUL about what I wear to work in now.

Jewelry, shawls, scarves I love it all!  And yes, I do have a few broaches and I do occasionally wear them, maybe not as fabulously as Pearl, but still.  Earings, necklaces, bracelets, a few hats, etc.  I try not to wear a bunch of pieces at once, one at a time most of the time, my fave are probably necklaces because they don't "get in the way" as much as others.  Also pins/broaches don't tend to get in the way.  And hair barrets, crowns, etc.!