Traveling Stones

Today's NaBloPoMo prompt is about a piece of jewelry with a story.  This is may actually turn into several posts for me, as jewelry is such a crucial portion of my wardrobe. 

Just to clarify, though, I don't have any pieces with real monetary value.  I have a friend who pronounces jew-el-er-ey with four syllables and she has some serious stuff that she keeps in a safe deposit box.  That's not me at all.  I don't like yellow gold at all, it's just never been my style, and white gold is rare in my collection as well.  After 5 years in Africa, I am unable to wear diamonds.  Too many wars have been fueled by them and lives destroyed by those little rocks.  (No judgement on those who wear them- I just can't do it.)  I would like an emerald from Zambia someday, but I don't currently have one. 

This means my jewelry is mostly beaded, handmade, bone & bamboo, steel, or sterling silver with semi-precious stones.  (I have a cool necklace made of hippo tooth beads and bamboo beads died with motor oil.)  My sister also makes jewelry, so I have many custom made pieces that she and I designed together.  Both of my weddings had her jewelry for myself and my bridesmaids.  I love having key accessories that represent me and show my fun side.  I wear bangle bracelets often and big, bright earrings and necklaces.  Without jewelry, I feel like I'm naked.  I try to pick up new jewelry when I travel, so most of my pieces have a story.

One of my favorite sets, which is my moonstone set, is from 3 continents and took 5 years to collect all the pieces.  It started with my first international trip, when my aunt took me to Italy for high school graduation.  (She is probably to blame for getting my traveling bug activated.)  We took a day trip into Slovenia to see a famous cave.  While there, I saw a beautiful oval-shaped moonstone pendant in a very simple silver setting, about the size of a quarter.  It was only $10 and I was smitten.  I got the necklace and wore it often.  This was 1999. 

A few years later I was in the NC mountains with a friend and found some marquise-shaped earrings.  They looked great with my necklace and my friend agreed that I should get them.  Then, in 2004, I traveled to Zanzibar for Christmas break with several of my fellow Peace Corps volunteers.  I found an oval-shaped ring that was a perfect match for my necklace.  The shop didn't take credit cards and I had to go to the currency exchange to get more money before I could buy it.  My birthday was during this trip and my friends collaborated with the shop owner to trick me.  One of them kept me busy shopping elsewhere (not hard to get me to shop) while the others bought my ring.  Then, when I went back to get it, the owner told me an elaborate story about the couple that had bought it and how happy they were with it.  I was so sad that I'd missed it.  That night they presented it to me at my birthday party.  It was a terrific surprise- I didn't suspect a thing.  I wear the pieces often, especially as a set, and they always remind me of the people and places involved in getting them.  

I was actually wearing them yesterday and the stone fell out of my necklace.  Luckily, I saw it immediately and was able to gorilla glue it right back in.  Those pieces are part of me now and I won't let them go just yet.

Maybe soon I'll post about our 3 sets of wedding rings, as that is another interesting story.  And I'll try to get some photos of my moonstones to share.  How about you?  Do your accessories tell interesting tales?