Jewellery : Story Tellers
Line breaks: jew¦el|lery
Pronunciation: /ˈdʒuːəlri/
Definition:
(noun)
Personal ornaments, such as necklaces, rings, or bracelets, that are typically made from or contain jewels and precious metal.
The cultural significance of jewellery, on the whole is not necessarily well delineated by it’s definition. The importance and symbolism of jewellery is something that anyone can tap into on both a very superficial and deep, sentimental way all at once. Dependant on cultural upbringing, jewellery can represent a host of ideas and beliefs, whether differentiating social status, invoking a sense of belonging, representing a bond, battling superstitions or simply as a means of adorning yourself. Wedding rings arguably tie a lot of these thoughts together. We come to attribute the symbolism of a ring and it’s placement to love. The materials and their meaning, or someone’s decided meaning and the act of wearing something to show that, is a natural value we’re exposed to from a very young age.
There is a reason why pretty much everyone in the world, will wear jewellery in their lifetime as a result of all of these things. Of course then, jewellery makes for extremely lucrative business. But as humans, with money or not, these personal ornaments will always remain. We all want to commemorate something or someone. We all want to treat ourselves. We all want to treat someone else. We all occasionally act on impulse. So why am I writing about all of this? Well, it started by drawing my right hand. Featured above. I was bored, took a photo and there you have it.
This drawing became a segway to talk about my experience and why I wear these particular rings. Again, as I suggested briefly in the inaugural style piece, for woman, there is a much more cyclical nature to wearing jewellery. Woman are generally more comfortable chopping and changing rings, necklaces and bracelets, though, that isn’t to say they don’t wear meaningful jewellery. But I think on the whole, men are perhaps more careful with their choices, maybe just wearing a nice watch, a bracelet to compliment it and a wedding band (if they’re married). Or any single one of these things. It is perhaps becoming more popular to stack pieces à la Johnny Depp.
For me, the ring I wear on my index finger was my father’s, as is the necklace I wear day to day. I never take them off. Coincidentally, I love the symbolism and look of navajo indian jewellery. The silver supposedly symbolic of a subtle strength and clarity, that we can be flexible enough to be moulded into something better, but strong enough to keep our core integrity in tact. The eagles and wings represent freedom and the use of turquoise throughout believed to be for happiness, health and luck. But these things don’t amount to why I wear it every single day. I wear it and my necklace to remember him. That means more than any status or look. The other thin silver band was given to me by my mother, who actually just found it one day. The copper ring stacked on top is something I found. I like the serendipity in that.
The only other things I wear, again, do not come off purely out of function (a watch and a bottle opener ring) or sentiment. Ultimately I just thought this might get people thinking about the significance of jewellery in their lives. Do you wear something you never take off? Are you sentimental or have a story about a particular piece? Maybe you don’t care about jewellery right now and you don’t have those things yet but I’d say, one day, without a doubt, that you will. Cheers for reading.