LUXURY

It’s one of those things that’s relative; and perhaps a trip to the dictionary will only confuse this notion.  The word, luxury, has a Latin root, ‘luxus’, meaning excess or extravagance; but even the Romans found the word slippery.  “luxuriare” was used by the ancient Romans to describe profuse growth, so the notion of abundance has clearly been an inherent part of any understanding of luxury for at least two millennia.  Excess, extravagance, abundance - luxury - how can one consider it except as a comparative?

In the late 1940s (yes, I’m that old) family trips were often aimed at reconnecting to relatives - family - in other parts of the country; and for this city boy they were often eye opening.  There were, for example, no paved roads into one of my dad’s boyhood homes, Marshfield, Missouri; and while there were paved roads into Tulsa, Oklahoma, my aunt Ellen’s home had no running water.  Things were more ‘luxurious’ when we visited my cousin Bob Hackett’s home in Oklahoma City - paved roads, electricity, running water, all the ‘modern’ conveniences and not that dissimilar to our family home in the Chicago area.  Of course, the circumstances of his home were luxurious when compared to those of my aunt Ellen; and the circumstances of her life were more luxurious than those of my great aunt Ophelia and my great uncle John, at the time 90+ years old residents of Marshfield.  On the other hand a comparison between my cousin Bob’s late 1940s home in Oklahoma City and your home today might illustrate the ‘profuse growth’ aspect of ‘luxuriare’.

Few, if any, Americans had air conditioned homes when we visited cousin Bob; and during our visit it never fell below 100º (Fahrenheit), even at night!  Yet we survived; so I guess air conditioning could be considered a luxury.  The ‘phones were all land lines; and in much of the U.S. you called the operator at a central switchboard to place your call; so it seems you could consider our cellular world to be one of ‘luxurious’ communications.  There were a few television sets (and only a few television stations) and they were both so expensive and so ‘impractical’ that few had one - a far cry from the entertainment luxuries we enjoy today.  My point, of course, is that luxury is relative, except when it comes to luxuries with emotional content - strikingly, fine jewelry.

I have a friend who has, over the last forty years or so, become a well to do and respected figure in the world of jewelry; and one of his most treasured possessions has no obvious practical function.  It is his mother’s engagement ring; and its immense value lies in its emotional importance.  It connects him to a mother who passed away while he was only a child; and while this is remarkable within the context of his life, it is, very generally, the greatest value in fine jewelry.  My late mother’s pearls connect my daughter to her grandmother and my late mother-in-law’s diamond wedding ring is proudly worn by one of my sisters-in-law.  What other luxuries can have so enduring a value?  Certainly the present demonstrates this.

Recently a couple came in to our store to have a new ring made for the diamond he had presented her twenty years ago.  Like many men (particularly an engineer!), he had concentrated on the value of the diamond he purchased and paid little attention to it as a piece of jewelry.  In fact, he’d done a good job in selecting it, that is, he had bought for beauty not just for weight; but it had never reflected her ebullient personality.  When one of the prongs holding the diamond had failed, she’d put it in a safety deposit box and got on with her life - a daughter, a profession and more; but the ‘itch’ to wear her diamond had grown over time.  With a good marriage, and the understanding that comes with it, they were ready to let her ‘finish’ her engagement ring by setting her diamond in a ring that was really hers.  She looked at dozens and found nothing; but then, as more came out of our vault, she spied one that she had to put on her finger.  She loved it; and after we had made her ring, she loved it more.   Her husband, however, may have been the happiest.  He wrote us a quick note reading (we’ve saved it with their pictures together) ‘Thank you for making my wife happy.‘  Without a concrete function, perhaps the ring is a luxury; but I find it hard to acknowledge happiness as a luxury.  

In fact it is the enduring emotional content of fine jewelry that lifts it far above all other luxuries and yet may make it the most practical of possessions.  Should you buy a piece of fine jewelry to celebrate one of life’s momentous events or to express your love for another?  Of course you should!  There is nothing like it; and if you focus on the purchase of a beautiful diamond it will remain a treasured statement of your love and joy forever.  So come see us here at Hursts’ Berwyn Jewelers.  We care about your feelings and that is our gift to you, one that few can equal.  Because we know the real value of jewelry, check out our website, hurstsberwynjewelers.com, then phone us at 708.788.0880 for an appointment.  We have the stuff of dreams waiting here for you.