©2005

Ellen & Grandma's Bracelet

I've had this "collaborative" bracelet for quite a while now.  The "core" of this gold bracelet belonged to my Grandma.  The bracelet commemorated her wedding day, the births of her grandchildren, her love of music, and the passage of time.  It also celebrated the purchase of my grandparents' first house, which didn't really resemble the charming little 14kt home with the miniature furniture inside that was found on her bracelet - theirs was an attached rowhouse in Brooklyn.

I remember sitting at her feel while we were visiting my other grandmother, absolutely mesmerized by the lush gold charms, the likes of which I had never seen before.  I would guess I was about 5 years old at the time, which places us in the late 1960s.

She explained the charms & reasons for each one in some depth, and the bracelet and the conversation implanted itself inside my head for life.

I never saw her wear the bracelet after that, but she recalled my fondness for it.  About 15 years ago, she was kind enough to give it to me so that I could wear it and enjoy it, rather than wait to receive it from her estate.  I'm delighted to say that my Grandma is still around, sharp-witted & independent, at 93!

Since I collect charms, I wanted to add to the bracelet, but the 14kt variety are a bit too indulgent for me, so I took the leap of adding sterling silver charms that represent something personal to me.  So, I added a gumball machine ( a long-standing obsession), a strawberry, a silhouette to acknowledge our darling boy, Jim, a blow dryer (not an obsession, just an appliance that's in constant attendance), a silver whistle in honor of the Bogie & Bacall movie, To Have and Have Not, mustard seed for its spiritual message, and an earring that I wore constantly as an adolescent wound up there as well.

It felt good to merge our two histories...we don't have the largest selection of charms, but the sentimental value is tremendous!

~ Ellen, New York, NY