Jewelry Makes Love Tangible

By Martin Bell

Love is all the time, but the commemoration of love is always a special moment. Love is intangible, you feel it but can’t touch it. That is where jewelry comes in. It is the token of love; it is how we make love tangible. It is something rare and precious that is worn on the body, so it is very personal.

Your loved one knows you love them, but the gift confirms it and we always welcome confirmation. When given, the jewel takes on special meaning; it is tangible proof of your love. It shows that you are thinking of and want to please your loved one.

They will treasure the jewel as they cherish your love. The jewel, now imbued with emotion, will carry those feelings into the future. Every time they see the jewel for years to come, it will conjure up the feelings of that special moment.

The jewel can carry more and more love farther and farther, like ripples in the pond, and others will also participate as they are affected by seeing the person wearing the jewel.

Molly and Martin Bell putting a necklace with all her children’s birthstones on their mother Olive, as their father Saul looks on.   The occasion was the celebration of Saul and Olive’s 50th Wedding Anniversary. Olive wore the necklace every day for the rest of her life. In addition to the necklace Saul gave Olive the brooch she is wearing. It can be suspended from the necklace. The brooch contains a large diamond that Saul’s mother had received from her parents. The brooch is now in the possession of one of Olive’s granddaughters, and will go next to a great-granddaughter. The diamond is truly an heirloom carrying love through many generations.

A jewel can be imbued with sentiment. For instance a man might give his lover a jewel that she wears every day. After she is gone, their child will re-experience their own emotion of their mother when they see the jewel. Many people who knew the mother will also be reminded of her when they see the jewel on her daughter, or perhaps her granddaughter.

Others too participate in this chain of love. A young man might give his grandmothers engagement ring to his betrothed, who did not know the grandmother, but she will likely feel a special acceptance and belonging from her new husbands family when she wears the ring. They will also feel a special affection, colored by their warm feeling for their grandmother, when they see her wearing it.

We use jewelry to express other things too, but expressing love is the most important. Jewelry is how we make love tangible.