Getting started

I like jewelry - it's in my blood, literally.  I like puns.  I think "Facets of Myself" is kind of clever.  My husband and children will probably roll their eyes - they think most of my puns are lame.  I don't care - this blog isn't for them, it's for me.

For the past 30 years I've been in the public policy business.  For 25 of those years I've been raising children.  My nest is now empty, and I've long had a pipe dream of being in the jewelry business (although I have no formal training - I do have years of shopping and wearing experience).  That said, I'm seriously considering trying to make jewelry more than a hobby...so this is where I'm going to start.

My great, great uncle was in the diamond business.  When my grandmother and great aunt were girls and he would visit, as a treat he would pull out his ring trays and let them pick something.  My profile picture (above) is one of those rings - a fabulous synthetic sapphire set in white and yellow gold with green enamel.

When my parents became engaged, Uncle Bernard mailed my father a packet of diamonds, a loupe and two pieces of diamond paper. He said "pick the one you want, wrap it separately from the others and send the stones back." My dad did that, and Uncle Bernard set the chosen diamond in a 4 prong Tiffany platinum setting.  Thirty years later, when I became engaged, I picked a different stone shape (emerald versus brilliant cut, from a nice Jewish diamond broker in Austin) - and an identical setting.  Until I had the ring and compared it with my mother's I had no idea our rings were the the same.

I can't remember when I didn't have jewelry.  I started buying my own pieces - inexpensive silver rings and pendants - in junior high school.  I still have most of them - well, actually my daughter does.  I saved them and when she was a young teen I passed them along - and she wears them.

As I got older, I continued to acquire things - from my parents, as purchases (especially when I was a single woman with disposable income), and over the last 25 years from my wonderful husband.

My great aunt, both my grandmothers and my mom are now all gone, and as a result I have a trove of treasures, some of which date back as far as the 1920s.  Some pieces I wear as is, some I've had reset - and some I'm just never going to wear.

I'm starting to go through the pieces in the last category, list them on etsy, and blog about the process. My goal is to find all the items a good home, and to increase my own knowledge at the same time.

Find me, and my goodies, at Facets of Myself (https://www.etsy.com/shop/dshaas).

This is a new journey for me - and you're welcome to come along for the ride.