Bijoux Bios

My necklace is actually a magnifying glass. It belonged to my great grandmother,  Grace Todd. She was British. I got it from my mother's cousin Phyllis when I visited her in England in 2018.  I have a very small family so having small items from relatives is very special. When I visited Phyllis, she  said, "I have something for you." I fell in love with this -- even before she told me what it was. Back in the 1800s not everyone had eye glasses, so my great grandmother would use this magnifying glass to see better. She had worn it around her neck on a string.  When I got home, I put it on a little chain. I wear it as much as I can.   It’s very meaningful because I have very little from my mother’s British family.  My mother moved to America from England when she was a child. Sadly, I lost my mother tragically 25 years ago. I was young to lose my mother; she was  way  too young to die. So to have anything from her part of the family is very, very special. It’s such a unique

Above: From Sonya Ltd. in St. Croix, home of the original Crucian hook bracelet                                     The Crucian hook bracelet, a simple band of silver and gold clasped by a hook, is associated with the Virgin Islands, but its original origins is lost in time. Some say the bracelet was brought to the islands by European settlers, that it was a version of a Danish wedding band. Others claim that it came from Africa where archeologists have found bracelets and fishing hooks made from various metals. Another legend says they were worn by wives of fisherman who would turn the hook outward when their husbands went out to sea, and then turn it inward when they were due to return in order to assure that they would come home safely. Most agree that the bracelet was given a rebirth in 1964 when Sonya Hough of Sonya Ltd., a small jewelry store on Company Street in Christiansted on the island of St. Croix, designed her version of the simple bracelet. That is the version worn by Jan