CHAPTER 15
Jewelry Up to Date
There are several important matters to be considered in the preservation of jewelry. Although all stones may grow temporarily dull from the accretion of dirt and grime, or even from a soapy film added by the attempt to clean them, most stones endure indefinitely. Most jewelry, however, does not, simply because it becomes old-fashioned.
The Old and the Antique
If jewels are old-fashioned for a long enough time, they may become antique. Antique jewelry has historical or traditional value and may be worn with great effect on certain occasion—it should not, of course, be mixed with jewels of other periods. There is a vast difference between something that is antique and something that is merely old. As out-of-date furniture makes a room look old-fashioned, out-of-date jewelry makes a woman look old.
The stones in these outmoded jewels are as good as ever they were. Indeed, they have quite possibly grown more valuable through the years. Not only are they as beautiful as when first worn but they are enhanced by the years of sentiment which have cast their special aura around them. It is the piece as a whole, the design that frames the stone, that has become old-fashioned. The obvious thing to do is to have it remodelled.
Old Jewelry with New Possibilities
The immediate problem with regard to remodelling is the man. A husband may be loving and generous, but in proportion as he is, he is likely also to be sentimental. Few men recognize, or at least admit, the fact that man is the sentimental sex. A husband may occasionally ask his wife why she is not wearing a jewel he gave her years ago. He would of course resent her telling him she no longer cared for it. And he would probably be a little bewildered and resentful if she told him bluntly that it is out-of-date. A simple process of education might make him see how the old one can again be made part of the currently usable treasures.
The fact that the jewel is not disregarded but is cherished as a sign of the bond of love that led to its purchase should please any husband. But no man wants his loved one to look older than necessary, any more than he would not want her wearing knee-length skirts when all around the skirts come half a foot closer to the ground.