Jewelry Collection Stories: Amanda of @DecemberAnchor

Hashtags are really useful. I’ve found some of my best accounts, employees, and purchases simply because of clicking on and searching through specific hashtags. The first ever Instagram post that December Anchor posted was a jelly opal cluster ring that caught my eye after searching through the #showmeyourrings hashtag. A few emails later, I purchased the ring and became great acquaintences with Amanda. Over 200 posts later, she has shared her love for jewelry with nearly 5,000 followers. Can’t wait to share her personal collection now:

I’ve appreciated jewelry for the majority of my life. I’ve always thought that jewelry is special and beautiful. For me, jewelry also became a part of my family’s traditions. Before jewelry, I collected rocks and my parents realized that rock collecting was important to me. Throughout my childhood, my parents and I collected rocks, learned about them, and occasionally, my parents bought me a piece of jewelry. I didn’t realize this until recently, but the fact that my parents were enthusiastic about something that I was enthusiastic about really encouraged me to keep learning about gemstones and to of course continue collecting jewelry. We unintentionally created our own sparkly family traditions.

It was my mother who helped me learn to appreciate antiques. Her and I would enjoy shopping at estate sales and garage sales where we would search for antiques. It always seemed that our first question when shopping was, “where is the jewelry?” My jewelry collection is mainly antique rings however, I have a new goal of adding Victorian bracelets to my jewelry box. I think I gravitate towards antique jewelry because they have such unique details. I like studying the different designs that were common for a certain era. I started realizing that when people would tell me that they liked one of my rings, I would thank them along with telling them when the ring was made even though they didn’t ask.

Searching for antique jewelry is one of my happy places. I celebrate every time I find a rare ring or a type of jewelry that’s on my wish list. I don’t remember a time that I wasn’t amazed by jewelry.

(Left) Jewelry can hold such symbolism and wonderful memories. The letter “S” pendant was my father’s. He wore it every single day. My father passed away many years ago and when I look at his pendant I clearly remember how this piece of jewelry was a part of his every day life. The anchor pendant was a gift my father gave my mother for Christmas in the very early years of their marriage. The anchor ring was designed by the incredibly kind and thoughtful @bethbjeweled. Beth and I were discussing one of the rings she had for sale when she asked me why I named my jewelry shop “December Anchor.” I told her about the anchor pendant and my inspiration. My dad was one of the most supportive people I’ve ever known. When I started to think about selling antique and vintage jewelry I just knew he would have been extremely supportive of my new goal. His birthday was in December, he gave the anchor to my mom in December and the anchor represents hope. My brother and I decided “December Anchor” was the name of the shop. After hearing my story, Beth immediately told me she would like to design a piece of jewelry for me that would represent December Anchor. The ring includes a vintage yellow gold anchor and Beth had the great idea of including turquoise since it is one of December’s birthstones. Her kindness was so amazing. The jewelry community on Instagram is fantastic.

(Right) My favorite part of this enamel portrait ring is the daisy flowers in her hair.

Garnets are my birthstone and one of my favorite gemstones. This five stone garnet ring from the Georgian era is one of those rings that I was so happy to finally find. I purchased the garnet flower ring from @bellflowerbay. The pear shape garnets in this ring are so wonderful.

This is my favorite letter “A” ring. I purchased the Victorian sapphire and ruby ring from @apocketofrocks. My favorite part of this ring is that the sapphires are more round-shaped and the rubies are more cushion-shaped.

These date/year rings are becoming rare in my opinion so I’m always super happy when I find these rings. I purchased the onyx and rose cut diamond 1890 ring from @luxcharmjewelry. The 1910 ring was purchased from @vulpeculajewelry.

I was really happy to find this 1929 ring because that is the year my wonderful grandmother was born.

(Left) The very generous and kind @lenoredailey often provides the opportunity to win some jewelry. I won this amazing yellow sapphire and rose cut diamond ring from @lenoredailey last year. @gemstonegypsy created a great ring with this Georgian era rose cut diamond that was in its original sterling silver setting.

(Right) This Victorian era sapphire and diamond ring I purchased from @vulpeculajewelry is one of those rings that I know will always be one of my favorites. The shape of the ring and the way the gemstones are set amazes me.

This mourning/memorial ring is very different from the other mourning rings in my collection. The ring reads “FORGET ME NOT” on the outside of the band. There was a time where I all bought was antique horseshoes and rose cut diamonds. This rose cut diamond horseshoe ring was a great addition to my collection.

Surprising information right here. I collect anchor jewelry. Okay, not surprising at all. I see a lot of vintage anchor jewelry however, I don’t find a lot of antique anchor jewelry. Both of these rings are from the Victorian era. The cameo was most likely a stick pin that was later made into a ring. The enamel faith, hope and love ring is my favorite ring.

WANT MORE? Check out the other Jewelry Collection Stories

You can follow Amanda –> @decemberanchor