A girl and her necklace
Love Letter #1
I think there is something beautiful about the connection a girl can have to that one special piece of jewellery she wears all the time. This week’s love letter is an ode to jewellery and the girls who wear it.
Many people have a necklace that they never take off: an 'emotional support necklace', as many internet users have dubbed it. A necklace that you tug on absentmindedly when you’re stressed, twirling the pendant between your fingers and tracing the shapes, finding comfort in its familiarity. A necklace you’re so used to that its presence is not noticed, but its absence is. There is a story behind it, often a gift for a big birthday or milestone event. Maybe it’s inherited. Maybe it’s just pretty.
My necklace is a Pandora birthstone heart charm on a dainty silver chain (I think these charms have been discontinued which makes it even more precious to me). My aunt gifted one to me, and a matching one to my sister, four Christmases ago. I love that my sister and I get to match, minus the different birthstones.
My ‘emotional support necklace’ isn’t even my favourite, necessarily. I have fancier necklaces - more expensive, more shiny, even some that are more sentimental. Sometimes, for big events and important occasions, I switch my usual Pandora pendant for a different piece, something fancier, but that doesn’t mean I don’t honour my usual necklace just because it sits out on big events. It accompanies me through the everyday. Sits around my neck as I sleep and as I shower. Joins me for lectures, dinners, parties. Sees me at my worst - and in some ways - sees me through my worst.
Girls having a signature piece of jewellery is nothing new, but has definitely gained recognition since TikTok gave people a platform to cultivate buzzwords for almost every aspect of girlhood. There was a trend where girls would film the ‘emotional support necklaces’ of their whole friend group, each girl having a different pendant or metal or chain, but all having a necklace. I personally loved this trend. I don’t care that the ‘emotional support [object]’ phrase is overused - it feels incredibly fitting considering the first thing I do in a moment of discomfort is reach for my necklace and tug on the pendant. I love that it is a small, specific trait that is shared among many women.
The other week, I was in the club and a group of girls next to me started crouching down and frantically shining their phone torches at the floor. One of them looked up at us and shouted “She’s lost her ring!”. My friends and I immediately turned our torches on and began to search too, and after about a minute, someone found the ring. This taught me two things: the first is that girls in the club can go from strangers to friends in an instant when you need them; the second is that the dread of losing jewellery evoked a genuine empathy in my friends and I, because a girl’s love for her jewellery is universal.
Perhaps I'm just getting sleepy and sentimental now (it’s past midnight and I’m writing from my childhood bed), but I really do love girls and their jewellery. Perhaps this love letter is not just about necklaces, but female bonds and their value to me.
Just something to ponder…
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This resonates so much!! The love of a keepsake that starts to take on its own life by being so woven into yours! I love this! Please keep writing!!
“a girl’s love for jewellery is universal” i love that 🤍 this is such a lovely piece on women and their jewellery (our talismans if you think about it). also that story about the lost ring in the club is so heartwarming how the comradarie of girls immediately came together!