63 | Jewelry You’ll Use and Wear
63 | Jewelry You’ll Use and Wear
An item can be clutter even if it's worth thousands.
Handbags, shoes, high quality dresses, jewelry, these items can still be clutter if you are not using them, wearing them, or have a plan for when you will. I know this first hand because I've inherited jewelry from my mother, grandmother, and aunt. Transforming these precious items from mere keepsakes tucked away in drawers into cherished pieces that enhance my daily life was a meaningful process.
Join me as I share my personal journey through an abundance of family jewelry, offering insights into how to distinguish between what's meaningful and what may be clutter in disguise. I'll encourage you to sort, categorize, and perhaps repurpose or part with jewelry, aiming for a lighter, clutter-free collection that brings joy and meaning.
If you're ready to honor the legacy of your loved ones while embracing an organized life free of mental clutter, press play and let's start the journey together.
MENTIONED:
24 | Antique Jewels and Appraisals with Hana Thomson
Hana Thomson, Appraiser and Consultant
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Intro: Welcome to A Pleasant Solution, Embracing An Organized Life. I'm your host, certified life coach, professional organizer, and home life expert, Amelia Pleasant Kennedy and I help folks permanently eliminate clutter in their homes and lives. On this podcast will go beyond the basics of home organization to talk about why a clutter-free mindset is essential to an aligned and sustainable lifestyle. If you're someone with a to-do list, if you're managing a household and if you're caring for others, this podcast is for you. Let's dive in.
Amelia: Welcome to Episode 63, “Jewelry You’ll Use and Wear.” Hey y’all. I haven’t shared a listener review in a while so let’s get to it! Jangelvi shares, “Amelia creates this warm space for us to take a fresh look at our lives, as something we are doing, instead of something that is being done to us. She shares insight that encourages us to see we are more in control than we think. I am excited to listen to more!” My heart is smiling. The podcast just passed 10,000 downloads a few weeks ago, and it’s this element of personal control, agency, and choice that I want to shine through. Some of you may feel unclear about the pathway forward which makes the work of seeing when and where you have control so important! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, Jangelvi.
Permanently eliminating clutter in your home and life is a long game. It’s about working category by category in your home or layer by layer in your heart. It’s about crafting the life that you want. You have a vision that matters, and clutter acts as a distraction, or noise, from that vision. In this podcast I tend to hop around various topics – from home organization, to time, to clutter and emotions, to caregiving, to sharing the chore load more equitably in your home so that you’re not the one doing it all. I topic hop intentionally. All these aspects of your home life are interrelated, and it’s my hope that you discover how your internal perspective shapes your experience of it all.
So, in today’s episode, I’m going to address what to do with the high-quality jewelry or heirloom jewelry you may have. Think gold, pearls, or precious stones. It’s one of those categories that often sits untouched in a drawer or jewelry box, out of sight, out of mind. Yet even items that have financial value on the resale market can be clutter, especially if they’re not used or worn. Let me repeat myself, an item can be clutter, even if it’s worth thousands. Handbags, shoes, high quality professional wear, dresses, jewelry… These items can still be clutter if you’re not using them, wearing them, or have a plan for when you will.
I know this first hand because I’ve inherited jewelry from my mother, my grandmother, and my aunt. (I also inherited a beautiful, long mink coat, but that I easily let go of, as I had no reason to wear it.) Jewelry often doesn’t take up much space, so it’s easy to tuck away and ignore it. Making decisions about these items has been on my mind since my conversation in Episode 24 last year with jewelry appraiser, Hana Thomson. It wasn’t until my holiday visit with my dad this past winter that I decided to move forward with the jewelry project I’m about to share.
When I had Hana on the podcast, I told her that I planned to work with her. That was last summer. She lives and works near me in Detroit. She’s highly qualified and easily accessible. Yet, y’all know that sometimes we still sit and wait until the “right time” to act or get started on a project. If you’re listening, and you’re waiting for the “right time” to have a hard conversation, declutter a space, schedule visits to your health care specialist, or send some items to resale, here’s your friendly reminder that the right time is now. Typically, the right time never comes. In its place, however, is either an emergency, a surprise life transition, or a random conversation that nudges us from inaction to action.
For me, that moment was driving east to see my dad’s family during the winter break last year. My grandmother and my aunt were both central figures to my family and my life, and they both passed away these last few years. These were tough moments for me, so being gifted their jewelry from my dad was a special and sentimental experience. The volume of items was significant. There were enough boxes to fit into a boot box sized container. Bringing these back to Michigan was the nudge I needed to explore next steps with jewelry.
So, the first thing I want to invite you to do is pull out all the items so that you can see the quantity. (I’m speaking to high-quality jewelry in this episode, but you could certainly do this with your less valuable pieces too, if you’re needing to pare down what you own.) Note your visceral, internal response when you see it all. This is an important response because it clues you in to messages from your heart or intuition. (As I mentioned a few episodes ago, your brain may try to rationalize, complain, or wallow in overwhelm, so you always want to check with your heart too.)
From my grandmother and my aunt, I had a mishmash of items: silver pieces, some that looked like diamonds, some that looked like pretty stones, pearls, some that were big and decorative that I’d never wear, and items made from gold, which I also don’t wear. They both wore fancy jewelry and fake jewelry. There were a couple pieces that looked like items I’d use or wear, but a majority of it I was unsure of. I knew that if I tucked the box away in my closet, I’d never feel the urgency to come back to it, sort through it, and decide whether the items earned their keep in my home.
Next, you’ll want to give the items a scan. Do certain pieces jump out at you? Do certain pieces turn you off? Which items do you look at and think, “When or where am I ever going to wear this?” This is the response I had for my mother’s items. She’d passed on to me a diamond solitaire necklace in 18K gold and a diamond tennis bracelet in which the diamonds were separated by S-curves of gold. Beautiful, yes, and very 1990s. I’d been holding onto these pieces, along with a few others, for the last 5 years. I’d separated out her valuable jewelry when we downsized her and moved her from West Virginia to Michigan, and they’d been sitting in my house ever since. So, a few minutes ago I mentioned the idea that valuable items could be clutter too. These items were a classic example. Between these couple of pieces and the boot box full of items from my grandmother and aunt, if I didn’t do anything but store them, they would be clutter.
Jewelry is meant to be worn, loved, admired, and appreciated. Yes, it holds value. Yes, it may be worth more sentimentally than financially. (Again, check out Episode 24 regarding this difference.) What keeps it from languishing in your home as clutter is purpose. These three women wore these items. They loved, admired, and appreciated them. How could I do the same? I encourage you to ask yourself this same question. If you’re unsure of when or where you might wear a particular item, it may be your nudge to seek out and build a relationship with an appraiser or jewelry expert like Hana.
Hana now works full time for a family-owned jewelry chain here in Michigan. I hadn’t shopped there previously, but my good friend shared that it was well-established. Between my trust for Hana and the supporting evidence shared by my friend, I reached out for an appointment. I had no idea what to expect, and I explained in my request the quantity of items I had. I shared that a majority of items I needed to simply confirm whether they were real or not. I knew that a few items – like the solitaire and tennis bracelet – were updated to pieces I’d actually wear. Then I’d make decisions about the rest as the process unfolded.
The reason I’m sharing this with you is to reassure you. It’s absolutely okay to have no idea what you’re doing. It’s absolutely okay to know that you want help from me, book a consultation, and show up and say I’m not 100% clear on what I want or need. It’s absolutely okay to reach out to an in-home organizer or any other service provider and share that you need help figuring out what kind of help you need. You’re more organized than you think. Service providers and experts are more than happy to meet you exactly where you are and build a bridge to where you want to go. If they don’t think they’re the right fit, they should – if they’re ethical – point you towards your next step. I trusted Hana enough to know that if I walked in with only one “real” piece of jewelry and a box full of fakes, she’d let me know with loving kindness. The key is to try. Don’t let the items languish in your jewelry box or closet. Don’t let them be clutter. Let them show their value and earn their keep.
Because I had no idea what to expect, I set aside 2 hours to meet with Hana. I took the precious pieces from my mom and a majority of the items I thought had some potential value from my grandmother and aunt. I met her at the jewelry store, and she explained that her time was charged for writing reports about any items I wanted insurance appraisals for. Otherwise, she’d be happy to use her loupe and her skills to create three categories: items that had financial resale value, items that should simply be donated as they didn’t have financial resale value, and a third category of items that could be bought for their bulk metal or stone value.
I’ll clarify further. The first category were items that had a financial resale value. These were those pieces that had real diamonds, quality pearls, quality stones, quality metal. Basically, pieces that the jeweler didn’t have to “do” much to. They could sell these items to the public “as is” and would pay me a percentage of the value. Technically, my mom’s diamond solitaire and tennis bracelet would go in this category, as well as a few loose amethysts she had. I wanted to repurpose these items, so I’ll share about that in a moment.
The second category were items that should simply be donated as they didn’t have financial resale value. These were those pieces that were cubic zirconia, lesser quality gold, low quality pearls, or more in the high-quality costume jewelry category. Unfortunately, pearls aren’t as fashionable as they used to be, and their financial value has dropped fairly significantly. Unless a pearl is of high quality, it’s often not worth what you may think that it is. And that’s my point here. I would have no idea. You would have no idea. I want to encourage you to look at your collection of jewelry and get curious. Recognize that thinking something is valuable doesn’t make it so. There are experts who will look at a coin collection, look at your magazine, or vintage toy collection and tell you the market-based truth. Holding onto it for longer won’t make its value increase… unless an expert tells you otherwise.
The third category were items that could be bought for their bulk metal or stone value. Now, this category really got me excited. Before I tell you why, I want you to think for a moment about why sorting through, categorizing, and making decisions about your jewelry may be rewarding for you. Oftentimes, a project like this is rewarding because you end up having clarity around what you own. For some of you, a project like this may help you lessen the total number of items. For others of you, it may be getting a little cash for the items that are taking up space and not being worn, used, or valued. That’s totally okay. You can sell something sentimental or heirloom and enjoy the financial reward. The reason it’s in your possession is because the person who gave it to you wanted you to have a “valuable” item. The value could come from wearing it. The value could come from selling it. The one thing that you can know for sure is that the value does NOT come from letting it sit in the jewelry box.
I loved watching Hana sort the items into these three categories. The bulk metal and stone category contained items that were 14K gold or higher, had a stamping for .925 sterling silver, or had semi-precious stones in them. These were items that were in my possession, but I didn’t have an affinity for them. I wasn’t sentimentally attached, nor did I want to wear or repurpose them.
So, as you look through your jewelry, consider which items you’d like to repurpose for wear and which items you’d be happy to part with. Have an appraiser provide the information I just shared to help you make your next steps clear. You don’t have to sell anything, or you could sell it all. The point of this episode is to encourage you to gain the information to help you find the value held within these items.
My jewelry box is now so light and empty. It makes me happy to look at it. Instead of lots of tiny boxes of random items of which I’m not clear about whether they’re real or fake, worth something or not, I have only pieces I’ll use and wear. Let me repeat. Achieving a clutter-free jewelry box is possible. Every single piece I own I love and appreciate.
I ended up having my mom’s solitaire updated and reset into white gold. I modernized the tennis bracelet too. These are special pieces to me which I treasure and will wear. My mom is still with me. Her dementia has progressed quite significantly, yet I know she’d be thrilled with my choices. I ended up discovering one pair of diamond solitaire earrings from my aunt was real and one pair was fake. I would’ve never known. I saved my grandmother’s ring which I can wear on my right hand, and a few diamonds she had made into a different style of necklace. I donated a good number of pieces, and I sold a bunch. I ended up having so much credit from the dozens of pieces that I sold that it nearly covered the cost of the essential pieces I now treasure.
For me, this process was about balancing the financial value with the sentimental value. The reward is knowing exactly what I own and not having the mental clutter surrounding what’s real or not real. I no longer have a drawer (or boot box!) full of “I don’t know, maybe?” items. I have pieces of my grandmother, my aunt, and my mother which I can wear every day. I can love and value them. No clutter needed. Talk to y’all soon.
Outro: Hey y'all, share the love. Remember, if you've had at least one valuable takeaway from this episode, someone else will too. I'd encourage you to share it with like-minded folks and suggest they follow the podcast too. I truly appreciate your time and I don't take it for granted.
