I love jewelry.   The color. The shine.   The sparkle. It draws me in – and there’s so much of it.   How do you decide what to buy? When you look into your jewelry box, how do you decide what to keep?

There are four things you need to know and then the decision gets a lot easier.

Today I want to talk about the first thing to know:  why you want it.

No matter how much or how little jewelry you own, you should know the reason you made the the decision to buy, keep or pass on a specific piece.  Here are some of my reasons:

Sentimental reasons – Was it a gift from someone special?   Did you inherit it from a favorite relative?  Does it remind you of a special day in your life?

It fills a wardrobe need – I love to wear gray.   I find it the perfect backdrop for the cool colors I prefer.  Then one day I realized I didn’t have any black jewelry. So I started specifically looking for black colored jewelry.   

For an occasion – Do you go a little nuts at holidays with special outfits and seasonal jewelry? Maybe you like to wear your birthstone?  Hearts for Valentine’s? Snowmen earrings in winter? Flower pieces in spring? Jewelry can enhance your enjoyment of a special time of year.

You love a specific gemstone – My tiny child loves moissanite.  Most of the time you’ll find her favorite green moissanite earrings in her ears.

To create a collection – I am a rockhound.. It was my love of rocks that led me to gemstones and from there to jewelry.   So I love gemstone families that have many different gems: beryl, quartz, corundum, tourmaline. I’m always looking for pieces that add a new variation to a gemstone family.

There maybe other reasons you chose a piece but when you look at it you should know why you bought it and why you keep it.  

Coming next – know where you’ll wear your jewelry.