Antique Silver Acorn Ring

This ring has a history. It is sterling silver, and has the motif of an acorn with two leaves on it. It is one of the two 'family jewelry' items I brought with me when I came to Mark's.

According to my mother, her mother (my grandmother) gave this ring to her when she was a little girl. However, it soon did not fit her, and it went away in a jewelry box. She gave it to me when I was a teenager, because it fit me then. It stayed in my jewelry box for a long time too. Last December I began wearing it - with the acorn as a personal symbol of change, growth and potential. I had also lost a lot of weight at that time and it was one of the few rings in my jewelry box that DID still fit. Most of my other rings were so loose they would fall off at the slightest shake of my hand. So, that morning in January, this ring was on my finger.

When Mark and I went on our trip to Minnesota, a small crack had appeared in one side of the ring, right next to the acorn. Being that it is over 50 years old (reportedly) that is no surprise. Also, I recently found out that sterling silver rings may become more brittle with wear. The ring had hardly ever been worn before that month. When the crack went all the way through I started keeping it in my dream bag instead of wearing it.

Apparently fixing sterling silver isn't easy - and there wasn't a single shop in our area that could work on it. Sterling silver has a certain coating over it that requires special equipment. When we went to Dayton last month, I found a small shop in Yellow Springs, Ohio (Rita Caz Jewerly Studio in King's Yard courtyard) that
could fix it. I left it with them and it came back from their studio yesterday by registered mail.

They have done an amazing job fixing this family heirloom! And - it still fits perfectly. The repair is very hard to see - unless you know where to look.

I will be wearing it, but I hope to keep it in good condition for our daughter one day. And I'll know where to try the next time it may need a repair.