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The Broken Necklace

I bought myself a new toy — a jewelers loupe. It magnifies things 10x, and you can attach it to the back of the phone with a rubberband and take detailed pictures, like this:

my ring

You can look at anything with the loupe, but it’s clearly fun to look at jewelry upclose. The ChickieNob and I spent an afternoon reorganizing my jewelry and looking at all of the pieces. It was surprisingly emotional, especially to find a microscopic hair left behind on a piece of inherited jewelry or to see something you’ve worn daily in a whole new light.

One necklace had been put back incorrectly in the box, and the chain was knotted. The ChickieNob and I used the jewelers loupe and a sewing needle to gently pry the knots apart. It was exhausting work, somewhat pointless because I didn’t even wear this necklace. But I hated the idea of putting it back with knots.

When we were down to a single knot, I pulled on the chain roughly and felt it snap in my hand. We all sat an stared at the broken chain, now useless. It felt like metaphor for something.

4 comments

1 Charlotte { 07.03.22 at 7:50 pm }

It pretty much sums up how I feel as a healthcare worker in the inner city during a pandemic.

That tool sounds really neat though. I always wondered if those iPhone attachments really worked. My daughter and I would love to do this too

2 Maya { 07.04.22 at 8:27 am }

Gosh–I’m so sorry. It sounds traumatic to have something you’re working on to collapse on you like that and then have your mind read it as a metaphor or an omen makes it worse. I hope you’re able to think of it as *just* a necklace–and one you don’t ever wear.

3 Jess { 07.06.22 at 9:26 am }

That photo is gorgeous. Oof, to the broken chain after so much intricate work. Definitely feels like a metaphor for so many things that you work, and work, and work at, and are frustrating, and then snap into something irreparable. Oh man, that sounds depressing. Hurrah for loupes, though, super cool tool!

4 loribeth { 07.20.22 at 9:54 pm }

I am sorry about the chain… but that is a really pretty ring!!

(c) 2006 Melissa S. Ford
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