my grandmother's necklace  by quietpurplehaze

my grandmother's necklace

I inherited this from my maternal grandmother who lived to be 91, still in her own little terraced cottage in The Street at Claydon, in Suffolk.

She possibly received this necklace as a gift around 1910 and I'd always thought it was ivory and crystal. One day I took it to a reputable jeweller and asked them to tell me. The verdict: plastic and glass.

I was surprised as I imagined plastic was not used for jewellery in that era. But a quick online search revealed otherwise and that bakelite, in particular, was fashioned into jewellery.

My grandmother was a cheery person, often laughing. I have lots of memories. Just one: she always wore a hat with a hatpin when she and my grandfather came out with us for the day, even to the beach. When I was little I used to wonder (worry?!) what happened to the sharp point of the hatpin inside her hat....

I still love the necklace.

Wearing her hat at the seaside:
http://365project.org/quietpurplehaze/add-ins/2012-06-30

With my grandfather in a studio portrait:
http://365project.org/quietpurplehaze/add-ins/2012-08-13
Sam
Beautiful Hazel - what a wonderful keepsake :)
January 8th, 2015  
Loved looking at your other pics. Aren't they priceless. I wonder if people will look at ours in years to come. I did scrapbooking for about 10 years and have 10 albums that no one looks at except me. I did them for Luke, being an only child, so he has memories and narrative when I'm gone.
January 8th, 2015  
Wonderful Hazel and a treasure !
January 8th, 2015  
What a beautiful keepsake.
January 8th, 2015  
Lovely and a special memento!
January 8th, 2015  
@andreajoy

I feel that we all need to get to a certain age before we become interested in family history. The sad thing is that I had an album full of old photos given by my dad but he did not know who anybody was. I do have my family tree, researched by a good friend, plus several identified photos.
January 8th, 2015  
Lovely shot Hazel, and an object with a nice history
January 8th, 2015  
I am intrigued in the fact that if you saw this beautiful necklace in a shop today it would be very current......funny how stuff comes around again....the best never goes out of date!
January 8th, 2015  
how wonderful, lovely dof, and something to keep that was precious to her
January 8th, 2015  
Beautiful photography and yes when we cleared out Mum's house we also found many nameless photographs. My bother decided to donate all my father's war memorabilia to a military museum. My childhood memories are still with me.
January 8th, 2015  
Lovely capture of your Grandmothers necklace do you ever wear it. Loved looking at your great family photos especially Grandmother in her hat.
January 8th, 2015  
Stunning capture of a great piece of memorabilia for you - who cares what it is made of - it's made with love :) And i loved your other old photos too!
January 8th, 2015  
What a lovely keepsake
January 8th, 2015  
This does look so modern! I did not think they would have had plastic either. The white beads look more old
School. I can tell you lived yur grandmother so much! She lived in such a fascinating era. Hat pins used to make me wonder too!
January 8th, 2015  
@wendyfrost

Oh yes I wear it quite a lot but have to be creful if I have a camera because the necklace is long with two arrangements as per my shot plus one large glass faceted ball in the centre which hangs low and could do quite a bit of damage to a camera screen!
January 8th, 2015  
Beautiful keepsake
January 8th, 2015  
What a priceless treasure, no matter what it is made of. I really love the old photos too. It really confirms the importance of having and documenting photos. They really are like little time machines.
January 8th, 2015  
@quietpurplehaze Is it the one she is wearing in the studio portrait? It is beautiful.
January 8th, 2015  
Lovely shot Hazel. Enjoyed your story as well!
January 8th, 2015  
Wonderful POV Hazel!
January 8th, 2015  
A beautiful capture and story!
January 8th, 2015  
@karlow75 Your comment is so very true! I cherish all our old photos for that reason!
January 8th, 2015  
You have photographed it beautifully, nice to have some happy memories of your treasured items
January 8th, 2015  
@wendyfrost

I don't think so simply because this one is quite long.
January 8th, 2015  
Wonderful shot of your grandmother's beautiful necklace. What a lovely keepsake to have.
January 8th, 2015  
Fantastic picture and memory.
January 8th, 2015  
lovely capture and memory Hazel
January 8th, 2015  
Lovely capture and great use of the light.
January 8th, 2015  
A lovely keepsake, but I guess the value of it doesn't matter and the memories are far more important.
January 8th, 2015  
Lovely necklace - if you like something, its materials matter not! Tina has a necklace I bought her in USA with a bit of anthracite in it - you'd never know! Nice image of this treasured item.
January 8th, 2015  
Lovely focus
January 8th, 2015  
lovely shot, like the close up! and what a lovely memorie!
January 8th, 2015  
What a nice treasure to have, and beautifully captured. Nice dof and light.
January 9th, 2015  
Wonderful!
January 9th, 2015  
Beautiful!!! Nicely captured!!!
January 9th, 2015  
Beautiful macro. How lovely.
January 9th, 2015  
Pretty dof
January 9th, 2015  
What a treasure, Hazel. Love your photo.
January 9th, 2015  
Nice shot. Love the story behind it.
January 10th, 2015  
Treasures are sometimes priceless. No diamonds can replace the value of the memories and story. Lovely sentiments and a beautiful keep sake .
January 10th, 2015  
I like your photo and story.
February 18th, 2015  
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