these are a few of my favorite rings

hand candy for the arm party

A favorite pastime of mine is organizing my jewelry, which lives in separate little bags and boxes strewn through the home. I like to pretend I’m a pawn shop dealer. Collecting all my trinkets, weighing them in the palm of my hand to feel the reassurance of the metal, polishing them with a cloth until they gleam.

I’ve specifically been attracted to rings lately. Part of it is coming back from Santa Fe, where rings are commonly spotted: bold, ornamental, colorful. I’m tickled by a hand full of rings, like you dipped your fingers into a candy factory vat and emerged with shiny sugary clusters glued to each digit.

Here’s a tour of my current ring collection and where I got each one.

• Turquoise Cabochon Ring: Picked up at a crystal shop in Santa Fe. This is something you could easily buy on eBay for <$50, just search for turquoise cabochon sterling silver ring. But it meant something to me that I got it at that specific crystal shop. I do not mind paying a little more for the memory—jewelry is all about imbuing objects with meaning, after all.

• J. Hannah Glacé Ring: I first fell in love with this ring because Dearly Bethany on Youtube got the clear version as a substitute engagement ring (or something like that…details are fuzzy). She said it looked like a piece of floating ice and that became imprinted in my brain forever. I went to a J. Hannah sample sale years ago and got this pale jade green one.