What is Your Signature Piece?

In developing your own personal style you inadvertently come up with a “signature piece”. Your signature piece is something that you wear every day. It may hold some sentimental value to you, or it may just be something that you really like – whatever it is, it’s something that the people close to you can recognize & identify as “yours”. I’ve actually settled on three signature pieces that I wear within my everyday style.

My first signature piece and by far, my most important is my father’s high school class ring. I found it in my mom’s jewelry box at home one day & asked if I could have it. Since the etched gold ring with a sapphire stone was oversized in both style and circumference, I had to have it resized to fit my finger. I wore it a couple times before I made it to the jewelers but had a major scare one night – when it managed to slip off my finger somehow. Thankfully, one of my friends found it on the ground and knew it was mine by my dad’s initials, LVE, engraved on the inside. I remember how my stomach dropped at the thought of losing it forever and I’ve made sure it’s somewhere safe ever since!

On a side note, my sister, Katie, has my mom’s high school class ring that she wears – and she also lost her ring one night.  It fell off her finger while she was trick-or-treating with her daughter and luckily, after back-tracking their steps with a metal detector, they eventually found it among the fallen leaves.

On another note, I remember when I was younger; my grandma lost my late grandfather’s wedding ring in a parking lot in the middle of winter. We went back in the springtime, after the snow melted, and searched for hours. Surprisingly, and thankfully, after several months & snowplows had passed – we eventually found it, untouched & unharmed!!! (Clearly losing jewelry is common in my family – but fortunately, we always manage to get lucky & find it again!)

I wear my dad’s ring almost every day and when I take it off, it feels like something is missing. My mother once said; whenever you’re feeling alone, just rub the stone and you’ll feel close to home….and I do.My second signature piece is a single gold forearm bangle. There’s really nothing special about it; I got it several years ago from Arden B as part of a set. I like the etching on it and have worn it so much it’s now just become my routine.

My third and most recently added signature piece is my chain necklace duo. One of the necklaces is a leafless tree pendant necklace with the words, “Remember What is Important to You” engraved on the back, that I got from my parents. It reminds me of the giant tree in my yard on the farm.

I love the symbolism of dormant trees in winter; at a glance they look like their dead…but in the springtime, they grow little buds that flourish into an abundance branches of leaves. One does not always realize the potential beauty when looking at the bare branches, but it’s there, even if it’s not at that moment – it will thrive one day.

*Sadly, when I went to take the photos for this blog, I realized that my tree pendant must have fallen off the chain earlier this week. I still haven’t found it, but hopefully I get lucky like last time.

The other is a vintage bird necklace my sister, Amanda, gave me for my birthday. I’m not going to get into too much detail of why it’s my signature piece because I’m leaving it for another blog :) …but there is a certain symbolism I have for birds as well…

Now that I’ve told you what my signature pieces are, can you identify your own? Better yet – ask your best friend to see if they can pick out what your signature piece is….