by Rachel PughThey say diamonds are a girl’s best friend. I tend to disagree. I think of diamonds more like the long distance friend. They’re great to see, you always want them around, but you’re used to not seeing them often so you deal with it. I personally think that jewelry, simply jewelry is a girl’s best friend. The more abundant, the better, the more variety, the better, and as long as you keep them coming around for a holiday, special occasion, or simply a really good shopping day, the less chance you’ll have to miss them. I believe in a heavy supply of jewelry at all times. Keep the old jewelry for memories, melt the gold related to bad ones, and mend broken pieces to make new ones (Oh Josephine! in Carbondale actually recycles broken jewelry by using it to make new items).
In no way am I intending to boast, but my armoire is overflowing with jewelry. This isn’t because I spend oodles of money on jewelry, but rather I come from a big family who loves gift-giving. And this gift-giving family loves jewelry. My dad practically haunts Bartikowsky’s and my mom browses through Valentine’s frequently when they are shopping for jewelry for one another. And their jewelry shopping isn’t just contained within a few stores when they’re looking for me, but rather everywhere there is unusual or estate jewelry. One of my mom’s good friends, Barbara introduced her to a Touch of Eyelet in Kingston which proved to be a great thing for me because now I have a bunch of costume jewelry from there. I have watches from volunteers at John Heinz Institute who sell jewelry on the side, Indian cuff bracelets from one of my family’s favorite Point Pleasant, N.J., retail shops, Globetrodders, and jewelry made by locals from Caribbean straw markets. I am a lucky, lucky girl, possessing all different types of jewelry and lots of it. Unlike one of my sisters, who believes only 14k gold, precious stones, or name brands are the way to go, I believe in versatility and quantity. The more the better, I say. Heck, a girl has to have options.
To make matters even better, we’re a family of antique shoppers. And antique shopping means plenty of Marcasite, probably my favorite type of jewelry ever made. Marcasite is iron sulfide and I just can’t get enough of it. The Benton Antique shops in Benton, PA have tons of it and this avid shopper, in collaboration with the family, practically lives there. Beginning the love of Marcasite back in 1996 when I inherited some Marcasite rings from my beloved Aunt Aggie, I have since grown my collection from personal shopping quests and plenty of birthdays and holidays. This past birthday I received two Marcasite rings from two different family members. Both of the rings came from antique stores (two different ones) and I love them equally (the lady fanning herself and the oval one with the amethyst seen here). Antique Marcasite has personality and I prefer pieces that no one else has.
So build your circle of friends and shop for interesting pieces of jewelry. With so many antique stores around, you can find really unusual pieces from estate sales that you won’t see duplicates of. Shop at art shows, browse through craft fairs, and get antiquing. Your new BFFs could be right around the corner.
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