Devonne Brown

When Mom died, I became keeper of the jewelry box. I dole out the contents to the various family members before I die. It’s not the standard little white padded jewelry box with the little gold lock and filigree. It’s the Chrysler Building of all jewelry boxes. Its contents are extraordinary.

The most valuable commercial pieces, the diamonds, are my least favorite pieces. Her favorite, the diamond cluster, never did anything for me. It’s huge, but more gold prongs than diamonds. A bunch of little stones will never be as cool as one big shiny one of any color, the bigger the better. She believed in the power of the diamond, even a little one. I believe in flash and trash. 

Brooches are classy and don’t let a magazine tell you otherwise.

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The best drawer of the jewelry box has the brooches in it. Those weren’t Mom’s though. I’ve collected those pins for the last fifty or so years. Church bazaars, yard sales, and antique shops are gold mines for them. I’ve heard they’ve gone out of fashion, but that’s misinformation and needs to be reported as such.  I wear them all the time. Nothing dresses up an outfit quicker than a pin.  Brooches are classy and don’t let a magazine tell you otherwise.

I’m drawn to bug pins. My Aunt Nanny had the most magnificent spider pin. It had black legs and a beautiful green stone for a back. Something mysterious happened to that pin. Everyone in the family wanted it. We looked through everything Nanny had after she died and found secrets like you would not believe, but not that spider pin. I found a similar one in an antique store for ten bucks about fifteen years ago. Of course, I bought it. It has a black pearl where the green stone of Nanny’s spider sat.

Women in my family are easy to buy presents for in case anyone asks. Give us a brooch, but not a new one. Those new ones have glued in rhinestones with fake prongs. Antique ones are made better, look better, and cost about the same. They also have mojo attached to them.

Every piece of jewelry has a story behind it whether you know it or not. If you don’t know what to talk to someone about, ask about their jewelry. I guarantee you’ll get a history. Somebody or something’s history.