Everything as a Service…Non Fungible Tokens…these terms all sound quite technical and one can only try to grasp what it stands for. And in our muddled minds, we miss what what it might mean to us personally. As a way of life.
In essence, it embodies a new sense of philosophy towards ownership. The society is embracing non-ownership or non-physical ownership. Less is really more. Each of us can do with less clutter and shed off the hoarder mentality.
And yet, there are some remnants of possession that are worth keeping, because it transcends time and becomes more than what it was created for. It can withstand the test of time and live to tell stories of individuals, generations and era gone-by. Yes, we are talking about jewellery – whether heirloom or one sitting in a shop somewhere just waiting to participate in another tale.
We are mostly mesmerised by the sparkling brilliance of the gems and their design when we cast our glance on jewellery pieces. As much as the precious stones and materials endure through the years, the memories of the moments shared in their presence is the defining tug at our heartstrings. The heirloom engagement ring, the first pendant handed down by a grandma, the bracelet from the young husband celebrating the birth of the first born…
Everyone can have a piece (or more) of history. Re-purpose your statement pieces by engaging with your past and embedding your very own ‘signature’. Make them part of your story and history.
Jewellery does carry memories, if not stories. Some of my friends run a jewellery studio. One day when I was killing time there, a young girl came in with an old sapphire ring. It was from her parents. She wanted to remodel the ring, or just reuse the sapphire. My friend examined the ring and hesitated. Inside the ring, two letters were engraved and connected with a shape of heart. The ring looks like something with story. The girl, including us, were surprised. The ring was from 70’s or 80’s last century. Wedding rings with gem were not as popular as they are today back then in China, even less with the way of expressing affections by engraving a shape of heart. How sweet and romantic! The girl decided not to do anything with the ring in the end, except for adjusting the size to fit her finger. After she left, we sat there for a quiet moment, dreaming about a special piece of jewellery that we would want for us/our loved ones…
What a lovely story! This is indeed why repurposing our jewellery usually brings us back to what really matters! Human connections, enduring love stories and reliving experiences. It would be interesting to know if there is indeed nothing that the young lady can do for that ring. Perhaps in some distant corner of the world, a young creative designer might have a new way of enhancing the ring without altering the structure too much.