Another family heirloom

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As I said a little while ago, every now and then I have a look through a few things that I have lying around, inherited from my parents, to try and decide what to do with them. So I looked in some paper bags and found several strings of jet beads. These came from my grandmother, born in the 1890s, and possibly from her mother before her – jet jewellery was a fashion in Victorian times because Queen Victoria decreed that no-one at court was allowed to wear any other jewellery except jet after her husband, Prince Albert, died in 1861. My mother didn’t wear them because by then jet jewellery was seen as outdated and unfashionable, but she kept them anyway, and now they have come to me. Some of the beads are chipped or broken and some of the strings have broken and need re-threading, but these ones are undamaged. Trying to decide what to do with them I put them on and found that I actually rather like them, they have a rather subtle, understated charm. I don’t really wear flashy jewellery, my favourites are a few silver pieces and a string of tiger’s eye beads. Jet is actually fossilised coal, it’s very lightweight with a muted sheen. I’m going to keep these and wear them, and try to find time to re-string the others, and in due course no doubt my girls will get to decide what to do with them next. All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2025.