7 timeless jewelry items to pass on to your daughters
This past Christmas my mom gave me a small wooden box. It had the word "MOM" carved on top and a black-and-white picture of her and me from my late teens.
I recognized this box, because nearly 20 years ago, I gave it to her.
But I presented it to her new and empty, and she returned it to me as a bigger gift, full of life experiences in the form of her most beloved material treasures. Many of the contents were simple, inexpensive items of costume jewelry, but to me they were truly priceless — it was like a highlight reel of her life. There were baubles she wore while falling in love, and out of it, and bits of gold and gemstones that represented the great celebrations of her past. They were her heirlooms — earned markers of time.
It was one of the best gifts I've ever received.
Mothers (and fathers), if you're thinking it is time to start a collection of future keepsakes to give your own daughter one day — you're right. It doesn't matter if they are expensive or even particularly stunning; she will love them because they were yours.
Here are seven types of jewelry that would be a great place to start. Just remember, the important element is to go out and live your own meaningful stories to attach to them. Then you can just put them in a box to give away ... eventually.
(By Nic Screws, style director at Bloomberg News.)