Memorable Mothers' Day

April 24, 2011 9:22 PM

My best friend's husband has asked for help finding a first Mother's Day gift. We're at a loss. Hope him?

My best friend's husband wants to get his wife a lovely, heirloom-quality gift for her first Mother's Day. He has a budget of $250. Just prior to their engagement, he bought her a very rustic, yet delicate, emerald and gold necklace. Her engagement ring is a slender gold band with little emeralds in it.

Their first child is due in mid-May, which would make emeralds an appropriate choice. She also loves garnets. He's thinking of either a bracelet containing emeralds (no need to match the other pieces, because she'd never wear them all together anyway), or any piece of jewelry containing garnets. Something that is neither particularly delicate, nor terribly ornate. A piece she could wear with jeans and a t-shirt, or with a cocktail dress. A piece she'll want to pull out in 30-some-odd years to illustrate her story when their first son is getting ready to have his first kid. She's a fairly girly-girl, but also very active.

Any ideas?

posted by amelioration to clothing, beauty, & fashion (11 answers total)

I vote for emerald stud earrings.
posted by bq at 9:32 PM on April 24, 2011 [2 favorites]

I love the jewelry at Sundance Catalog and thought this garnet bracelet was pretty and these garnet earrings are stunning.
posted by victoriab at 9:56 PM on April 24, 2011 [1 favorite]

Oh, I have the starfish version of this necklace but love the bird/ruby one too. One thing to note is that the it's a locket so it opens and closes. I was worried that it might open accidentally so I glued it shut. I also like this tree of life necklace (which has other versions) but none of them in gold unfortunately.
posted by victoriab at 10:10 PM on April 24, 2011

Heirloom quality crib?
posted by porpoise at 10:14 PM on April 24, 2011

I know it's not jewelry, but what about a jewelry box to go with it. Willow Tree has a box called Tenderness. It's the image of a mother holding her child carved onto the top.

I received this as my first Mother's day gift 4 years ago. It brought such tears to my eyes, when I saw the delicate image of mother and child (my case son) on the lid.

I keep my wedding ring in that box. Every night when I go to put it in there or every day I go to take it out, it still brings tears to my eyes.
posted by Sweetmag at 10:20 PM on April 24, 2011

I came in to recommend Sundance, too. Green garnet bracelet, Brilliant-cut garnet ring, Inside-out ring, and many more.
posted by you're a kitty! at 11:01 PM on April 24, 2011

For my first Mother's Day my husband got me a Mother and Child cameo necklace.

It has neither emeralds or garnets, and it isn't a bracelet. I have worn it in all kinds of situations though. I have a couple of chains for it: one that is more delicate for nicer outfits and one that is sturdier for casual looks (and to wear while the kids are in that "pull on mom's necklace" phase.)
posted by TooFewShoes at 11:04 PM on April 24, 2011

What I got on my first mothers day is a card written by my mother "from" my daughter. I will treasure it always.
posted by zia at 11:05 PM on April 24, 2011

Has he visited local jewelers, especially those that a) actually make jewelry and/or b) sell estate jewelry as well as new pieces?

It sounds like he has a pretty good idea of her taste; he just needs to find the perfect piece. I suspect he's more likely to do that at a local jeweler where he can have something unique made or where he can peruse estate jewelry for something unusual (and already heirloom!). Internet jewelry shopping is almost inevitably a bit mass-market.

For my first Mother's Day I got an unusual piece of jade from the 1920s whose original setting had been damaged and that had been put in a more modern-but-appropriate-to-the-piece setting with small semi-precious stones in a floral motif, from a jeweler who dealt in estate jewelry and did his own work. It was not expensive at all, since it was all semi-precious, but it's very unusual (for contemporary jewelry) and people always remark on it, since it's not at all the kind of thing you'd see in a regular jewelry store. The floral motif makes me think of new life, so that's nice.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 3:45 AM on April 25, 2011

A mother's ring.

Place the baby's birth stone in the ring --- get a band with the option for adding more stones should more children come along. It's also something she could wear all the time, unlike a bracelet and is subtle enough that it wouldn't be wrong with anything she wore ever --- yet it also makes for a charming conversation because she tell a story related to her children as she says, "This is stone is for [child] and he's now working with Doctors without Borders after going to Harvard Medical school."
posted by zizzle at 7:04 AM on April 25, 2011

nthing zizzle. My mom had a mother's ring that had her and my dad's birthstone. As each child was born, another stone was added.

When my mom died, she left the ring to me. I couldn't wear it as a ring, so the jeweler (family friend who originally made the ring and added the stones) made it into a necklace for me.

bad ipod picture
posted by kathrynm at 6:09 AM on April 26, 2011