Root of all

This past weekend was the beginning of the polo matches at Mashomac Club near my farm in upstate New York. It was an interesting time catching up with many of the people I grew up with as a child. Most of them know me as extension of my parents as opposed to a contemporary, so the conversation often turned to them at some point. Friends of my parents like to assume that it was my mothers jewelry that got me interested in designing as a metier. Perhaps so. My father as long spoken about the first room someone remembers in their life as the cornerstone of their taste. The premise being that if it was a happy room with good memories they try recreating that space, conversely their taste will sometimes run counter to the style of that first room if other feelings prevailed. I buy the theory. Yet the weekend punctuated me looking at the theory as it related to the jewelry I make. I had never done that before, never. Full disclosure, my mother has dementia and my brother and I had a conversation regarding her jewelry just two days prior. Should we sell it, should we keep it for our own wives ( one day ), etc. The combination of all the comments and my own feelings dealing with the possibility of selling any of her pieces was very interesting.

  I have never really felt that my mothers jewelry would impress jewelry women. There is a distinct lack of major stones, with one exception of a cabochon sapphire ring my father purchased for her in Gstaad years ago. It is not an important stone, but it is well balanced and a beautiful setting. The rest of the pieces are pleasant but far from great . There are really very few signed period pieces, and the collection tends to the larger semi precious variety. I really don't use the term semi precious however for the sake of this blog It gets the point across. What my mother does have is a beautiful collection of peridot. Beautiful peridot.....and I stress beautiful. These are larger stones out of settings for the most part. She also has a very interesting collection of  Marguerite Stix and some Rene Boivin. The Stix and Boivin pieces are mostly shell rings and delicate examples of their work. Her collection is really very thoughtful and applicable to the time they were acquired and perfect  for her. What she lacks in artillery she made up for in the art of jewelry making. Nothing is commercial. I have never thought that her pieces affected my personal esthetic in jewelry making, but it does. I use alot of important stones however the tenor is geared less to the austere and more to the sensual. I use shell and moonstone like Stix and Boivin, and I will always reference that. They are some of my most admired designers. Going further, peridot is one of my favorite stones, along with coral (another of my mothers collectibles). It is an admission to myself that her tastes in jewelry have influenced me profoundly.  I am working on a piece of jewelry using the most beautiful peridot that has ever been. The piece when finished will be named after her. It is a very dark time in her life at the moment and it is said that one of the benefits given to the wearer of peridot it that it helps you see in the darkness, the  same way aquamarine keeps you from falling off horses, or rubys promote bravery. Stones have meaning. I trust in these truths, and believe that the stones that have come to represent her in my own esthetic will show her some light in darkness.