"I never wear the jewelry I already have"

This is something I hear every time I'm out in the world showing you my work, especially from women of a certain age. I get it; I really do. Even I don't wear jewelry every day. Or maybe you're at a stage of life when it makes more sense to get rid of stuff than acquire more.

(Also, I promise you that my feelings aren't hurt if you come by my booth and don't buy something! Jewelry is very personal, and not everyone is going to love what I make.)

What I have started saying in response, though, is this: Why not? Open up that jewelry box and take out your favorites. Wear them all. Or just look through them. If you have beautiful things, enjoy them! 

When my kids were little, they did a thing with their toys that we called "taking inventory." They would dump out the whole toy box and then sit in the middle of the chaos and pick things up one by one. They got a lot of enjoyment out of it.

I've decided to take inventory of my own jewel box. I don't have a lot of jewelry (my taste was always a bit beyond my budget), but there are a few pieces in there that haven't made it out of the box recently, and it would definitely be fun to wear them again.

Here's my storage system. The boxes are from Ikea, and I think they're called Clässi. (That's a joke.)

Here we go:

This is my engagement ring. Black pearl, diamonds, and 10K white gold, and yes, it's from Zales. I had it sized once, but my fingers continue to get bigger, so I don't wear it anymore. (Plus, that pearl has already broken once!) Still love it, though.

This cuff is a Frank Gehry design from Tiffany, a gift from my husband many years ago. Like my engagement ring, it's too small now. 

The Island of Single Earrings. The rough carnelian on the left is my work, and I really could make another one--I just haven't done it. The round carnelian was an Etsy purchase. The little green apple is my mom's work--more of my mom's jewelry in a bit.

Carnelian, I think undyed, also from Etsy. Not the best knotting I've ever seen, but so gorgeous. My kids both tried to put these in their mouths, and one of my college-age students told me, rather awkwardly, that she wanted to do the same thing! Jewelry as candy--one of my favorite tropes.

Here's one of my mom's pieces, a string of freshwater pearls. My mom made gorgeous beaded jewelry for eight or ten years, then stopped when it got to be too much. Her silk knotting is always immaculate. 

Another of my mom's pieces. I love how she combines textures iand patterns here: seven large freeform garnet beads, alternating with smaller freeform garnets, then two rondelles, then three round garnets alternating with rondelles.

Another Tiffany piece, this one an Elsa Peretti apple pendant. This one was a gift from my parents on my 17th birthday. They wanted to get me pearls, but the pearls were evidently far too expensive (although, as you saw, my mom did eventually manage to make what she couldn't buy).

At the bottom of the box, I found a few of my own early efforts. 

The tourmalines in these earrings are amazing--I might pull them out and set them in something else.

I had forgotten that I still had these pieces, though.

In the late 1990s, there was a brief vogue for "floating" pearl necklaces. I made this one for myself somewhere during those years, using my mom's supplies. 

I'm not sure how often I wore my floating pearls--they are kind of scratchy, if I remember correctly--but I wore these two bracelets all the time. There used to be a third one, I think, but it broke, and I put away the other two to be restrung. Which never happened, of course. They are too small, so I would have to redistribute and adjust quite a bit.

The too-small pieces should probably be repurposed or rehomed, but the rest of these--I really should bring them out more often! 

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What are your favorite pieces of jewelry? Do you wear them regularly, or would you like to bring them out more often? Post a photo in the comments and tell us about them!