Warning: fervid discussion of jewelry and shopping to follow. Flee now if you feel things are just a burden, and materialism is rotting our society.
I bought a diamond pendant today. It's a gorgeous piece, worth about three times what I paid for it, and I'm thrilled to my very toes. I blame my co-worker. She came into work on Friday wearing a beautiful necklace and mentioned Macy's was having a half price sale on fine jewelry. From the moment she said that I felt a deep, unshakeable urge to go shopping for jewels.
I actually meant to look for a gold chain, something simple yet elegant, upon which to hang my pearl pendant. I didn't have anything that was quite up to the pendant's level yet I wasn't entirely convinced I needed an 18K gold chain for it at approximately $25 an inch. Besides, I'd given up my Macy's charge card years ago. On the other hand, I hadn't been able to wear my pearl without the chain for the last six months, and if I settled for 14K, the half off would bring the price down to reasonable instead of shocking. The justification machine was working perfectly. I arranged to drop John off at the San Mateo Antiques Show, and headed for Hillsdale Mall.
I've always had something of a weakness for fine jewelry. Despite years of being a punk chick, living on macaroni and cheese, getting my clothing from Goodwill, and my furniture from dumpsters, I have always spent money on real gold and good stones whenever I wanted to wear something nice. I have bought every piece of the fine jewelry I own, except the stones which I inherited from my mother and had remounted as a ring and earrings. No, that's not entirely true: John bought me a plain gold wedding band when we got married 9 years ago this weekend, and gave me his grandmother's cocktail ring which has a pretty little diamond in it. Other than that, though, I've worked for and paid off all my own jewelry. I'm very fond of diamonds and pearls. I don't generally care about colored stones. They look like glass to me. I do have a lovely amethyst ring, just to be contrary.
Well, I thoroughly worked through the glass cases, comparison shopping chains, rings, earrings, and bracelets. I tried on some killer rings. Then I spotted the heart shaped pendant, with baguets on the inside and round stones crowning the outside. You are mine, I thought, and commenced negotiations. I got more than half off because of various circumstances which would bore you but which elated me. I met John across from the antiques show at a pumpkin patch where I was debating the merits of round versus elongated for the elaborate pumpkin carving I had in mind. "Notice anything different?" I said in the car as we drove home with one round and one tall pumpkin. I felt as though I were wearing an enormous gaudy stone, a la Titanic, although the pendant is only an inch wide. It sparkles like a son of a gun in any light because of the setting.
"You got your hair cut?" he said tentatively.
Oh, well. I love my new necklace. It looks absolutely marvelous dangling from my new chain.
