Jewelry Stories from Finders Keepers

I am thrilled to be here with you twice in one week for another edition of Jewelry Stories! Today, we have a very special guest – Sarah Monzon, the author of Finders Keepers! I found this gem of a book by chance through my Kindle Unlimited subscription, and I loved it! Not only is it a split time novel (my fave!), but the romance and chemistry between Trent and Sarah is electric. I can highly recommend it!

There were a couple of jewelry references in Finders Keepers, and one in particular that I really wanted more details on. Sarah not only answered some of my questions about it, but sent a picture of what she was inspired to include in the book (included below).

I have tried (oh-so-inadequately) to recreate that special necklace, plus a few other designs that felt very authentic to this book. First, I’ll share my interview with Sarah, then all the new designs will be listed below that. I hope you enjoy your time with today’s Jewelry Stories from Finders Keepers!

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Christy – A very expensive necklace inherited from her grandmother is part of Isabella’s story in Finders Keepers.  While this story tells us all about Isabella’s connection to it, what do you imagine her grandmother’s connection is to it?

Sarah – I think one of the joys of not explaining the grandmother’s connection to the necklace is to allow the reader’s imagination to run wild and create the story of the necklace’s origins in their own minds. Was it a romantic gift from a besotted lover? Had she been married to a jewelry maker? Was the necklace an heirloom so long passed down that the origins were no longer known within the family? Was she a faithful friend or servant to a member of the monarchy and the necklace a gift of gratitude? What do *you* think?

C – Well, I’d love to think it was the romantic gift from besotted lover. If so, he really showed his love with a stunning necklace! I mean….just look at that!

C – Most fine jewelry from the late 1600s into the 1700s seemed to belong to the wealthier class, and emeralds have long been considered one of the rarer and more costly jewels (softer gemstone, so more chance of damage when they are mined).  Why did you choose to use an emerald as the focal gem in Isabella’s necklace?

S – When I was researching, I came across this stunning piece of jewelry that just spoke to me of the time period and seemed to spark a symbol of hope for someone who would feel like perhaps hope was slipping through her fingers. I used that necklace as my inspiration for Isabella’s heirloom—a gold and jewel encrusted collar and pendant.

C – What else do you imagine that was recovered from the shipwreck?  More jewels?  Gold coins?

S – Definitely gold coins, but probably even more important than that, knowledge. Every discovery made is a gateway to learning more, and in this case learning more of the rich history of the time period, advancement of marine scientific research, and archeology. However, hundreds of years of exposure to the decaying effects of salt water, sea life, and hurricanes means that not much of the ship would be left and what could be preserved in such conditions could be even harder to find under the sea floor and scattered away from the original wreckage. I think there would be some nice hidden surprises, though, for anyone patient enough to sift through the remains.

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Sarah, thank you so much for being here today and answering my questions about Finders Keepers. I appreciate you being here!

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I hope y’all enjoyed my quick interview with Sarah, and that you’ll also enjoy the jewelry and book excerpts below. As always, there are links captioned below each new design that will take you to the product listing for more details. 🙂

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This last design wasn’t inspired by a particular excerpt per se, but from all the time Isabella spent at sea trying to get to the New World.

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That’s a wrap for this edition of Jewelry Stories! As you can see, I did not even come close to what Sarah envisioned for that emerald/pearl necklace, but in all honesty, I didn’t have her photo until after I had already created the necklace. Oh, well…it was fun to imagine all sorts of possibilities with it anyway! If you visit the product page, you can see additional pictures on how it clasps together and that it doubles as a brooch.

Pearls are starting to become a common theme around Bliss, Books & Jewels, but I wanted a different style of pearl for these pendants since the scene with Trent has him referencing the Scripture about the pearl of great price. I visualized a baroque pearl, mostly for it’s uniqueness as each one is different in color, shape, size, etc.

Last but not least, it’s always fun to make a bracelet stack. Isabella spent almost the entire book at sea, and Sarah and Trent made more than one trip out to see in search for the shipwreck. It seemed only fitting to design an ocean-themed set.

I’m thrilled you joined me for today’s Jewelry Stories post, and a special thanks to Sarah Monzon for being a part as well! I have more inspiration waiting in the wings, and will be back next week with new designs to share with you. If you aren’t already a subscriber, take a minute to sign up for my email list so you can get notifications when that next post goes live.

Until next time!