The Year We Wear the Jewellery in the Drawer

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Most of us have it: jewellery that lives quietly in a drawer, wrapped in tissue, tucked inside a little box, or still in the pouch it arrived in years ago. Pieces that were inherited, gifted, or passed down with love, and then never quite found their way into everyday life. Perhaps it belonged to your mum, your granny, an aunt, or someone whose story you only half know. Maybe it’s beautiful but not quite your style. Maybe it feels too special, too old-fashioned, too sentimental, or simply too “best”. So it waits.

This year, I’d like to gently suggest something different. What if this is the year we wear the jewellery in the drawer?

One of the biggest reasons inherited jewellery stays unworn is the feeling that it doesn’t suit modern life. A pearl necklace can feel too formal, a brooch too old-fashioned, a cocktail ring too much for a trip to the shops. That’s perfectly understandable, because not everything needs to be everyday jewellery. Jewellery doesn’t need to be worn daily to be worn at all. An evening out, a birthday dinner, a wedding, a theatre trip, a special lunch with friends or a quiet anniversary are exactly the moments these pieces were made for. Previous generations understood this instinctively. Pearls were worn to mark occasions, to feel good, to step into a slightly different version of oneself, and there is something rather lovely about reclaiming that idea.

Wearing inherited jewellery can also feel daunting because it doesn’t feel like “you”. Style changes, lives change, and what once felt natural can feel unfamiliar. Sometimes, though, it isn’t the jewellery that needs to change but the way it’s worn. A brooch doesn’t have to be pinned neatly to a lapel; it can sit on a coat, a scarf, a cardigan or even a bag. A locket can be worn over a jumper rather than tucked under a blouse. Pearls can work just as beautifully with a jumper and jeans as they do with a dress. A signet ring doesn’t have to stay on a little finger if it feels more comfortable elsewhere. Wearing jewellery differently is often all it takes for it to begin to feel like your own.

I realised recently that I was as guilty as anyone of keeping jewellery tucked away “for best”. I have a gold necklace my mum gave me for my wedding day, a delicate heart with a tiny violet painted in enamel, hanging from a fine satellite-style chain. In the sixteen years since we got married, I hadn’t worn it once. Last week, I put it on with a plain navy jumper and my wide-legged jeans. No one noticed and no one commented, but a few times during the day I reached up to my neck and felt it there: the little dents, the texture, the familiarity. Each time, it took me straight back to that cold, snowy December day when Mr H and I got married, and it made me smile. That was the moment I realised that sometimes jewellery isn’t for other people at all.

Before taking inherited jewellery out for its first outing in years, there is one practical but important thing to consider: having it checked. Jewellery ages even when it isn’t being worn. Clasps loosen, pearl strings stretch, pins weaken, settings wear down, earring fittings tire and ring shanks thin with time. There are few things more heartbreaking than wearing a sentimental piece for the first time and losing it on the pavement. A quick professional check can make all the difference. I can recommend a great jeweller who offers this service locally.

Jewellery isn’t made to sit unseen in drawers. It’s made to move, to catch the light, to be touched and to become part of a life. Wearing inherited jewellery doesn’t diminish its meaning; it adds to it. Every time you choose it, you add another chapter to its story. It doesn’t need to be worn all the time. Sometimes wearing it just once is enough to bring it back into the world.

So perhaps this is the year you open the drawer, try the brooch, wear the pearls to dinner, fasten the locket or take the ring out for an evening. Not because you should, but because you can, and because jewellery, like memories, deserves to be lived with rather than hidden away.

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