These are a few of my favorite rings: Stories behind the baubles

As a kid, I adored a locket that my mom owned. It was given to her by her mother, and it contains pictures of my great grandparents in it. To others, it might not be anything special to look at. But I love the way the little flecks of jewels glistened in it. I used to ask her all the time if I could look at it, and we would sit on her bed while she explained who the people were and where they came from. 

As I've grown up, I've realized how much I love jewelry -- not just because jewelry is fun for accessorizing, but because it tells stories. 

Recently, I came across the website Invaluable, and I fell in love with their inventory, both jewelry and otherwise. The site hosts live, online auctions, and the products are ever changing (they ship from around the world, so there are all sorts of interesting baubles listed!). They have tons of antique and vintage items which I think is why I love the site so much -- it reminds me of the piece my mom has from her grandparents. The jewelry section is naturally my favorite. As a writer, I always wonder about the stories behind the pieces, and it made me want to share a few of my pieces and stories too! 

Class ring from Saint Mary's College

I can't tell you how many times I've been somewhere -- the grocery store, a party, the airport -- and a woman will recognize my ring before proudly showing me hers. The Saint Mary's ring is unlike any other. The French Cross is instantly recognizable to the Belles who spent their undergraduate years there, and it never fails to strike up a conversation. 

Right hand ring (purchased post-grad school)

I graduated college in 2005, and I started working on my master's in 2006. As a lifelong learner, I LOVE being in school. But grad school was a lot of work, especially while I was working full time. It was a lot of late nights and lost weekends as I tried to stay on top of course work (like, my web design class (which was almost the death of me)). Upon graduation, my sweet parents wanted to get me a gift to celebrate my accomplishment. I'd been eyeing right hand rings for awhile, but I had specifics in mind. I knew I wanted something gold, and I knew I wanted something delicate looking. And what I finally found was this. Ohmigosh, I love this ring! I don't know if I've ever received so many compliments on anything I'd ever worn before in my whole life, and I love that when I look at it, I see a major accomplishment. This lived as my favorite ring until 2013 when I got...

Engagement and Wedding rings

Let me tell you a little story about Pinterest. A million years ago before I had a husband or a baby, I had a secret wedding board on Pinterest. And on there, I'd pinned a ring that I absolutely adored. It was rose gold (and this was just as rose gold was starting to become popular, maybe even before!) and had a criss cross band. It was lovely. So when things got serious with my now husband, I told him very plainly that I didn't want to pick out my own ring. I understand why women like to do that, but I wanted the surprise. Shortly thereafter, I started to second guess myself, so one night, I pulled up the website of the designer of that ring I loved so much. There were over 100 rings to look at, and I asked Dan to show me which one he would pick for me. And out of those 100+ rings... he chose mine. Further proof that this man was the right one for me. According to the site, the ring only came in gold and platinum, no longer in rose gold, so I knew I wouldn't be getting the "perfect" ring. 

Low and behold, May 11, 2013 rolled around, and Dan took me downstairs where he'd set out flowers and his guitar. He sang me the most amazing song ever before getting on one knee and asking if I would marry him. The details are a little tear stained in my mind, but I'm pretty sure I said yes even before seeing the ring! (You can read our whole proposal story here!) And then, he opened the box... and there was my PERFECT criss cross band rose gold engagement ring! He tracked down a store that could get it in rose gold and spent hours driving back and forth to see it, purchase it, pick it up, and get it home! The engagement ring (and matching band!) are perfection. And every time I look at them, I see our forever. 

What are some of your favorite pieces? What stories do they tell?