A client of mine recently retired from a successful career that required her to wear gowns, elegant shoes, and fine jewelry. She realized her new stage of life wouldn’t provide as many opportunities to wear these pieces and she decided to work with a professional organizer to clear out her closet.

As a Business Partner with NAPO, the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and NAPO New York, I am often called to work on projects like this one.

I traveled to my client’s house to sit with her and walk through each of her fine jewelry pieces. Not only did I evaluate the pieces themselves, I also gauged my client’s emotional reactions to understand their connection to each piece.

Pendant on Hinged Bail — *Pendant and Hinged-Bail*

During our conversation, we discussed which pieces she’d like to sell, and which she would like to keep. For the pieces she wasn’t fully enjoying, I came up with solutions on how to reimagine them into something she could love. For example, I added a simple hinged-bail to a pendant that allowed her to wear it on multiple necklaces for various occasions. (Photographed)

She also shared a story with me about when she was wearing a pair of pearls in honor of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

As she was leaving her apartment on the day of Ginsburg’s funeral, the strand broke. She took this as a sign to create a new necklace, and asked if we could use the proceeds from the sale of her items towards its creation.

From her collection, I sold earrings, rings, bangles, charms, a charm bracelet, a watch, pins, pendants and loose diamonds from rings. The proceeds not only covered the new strand of pearls in full, but also exceeded her expectations and she walked away with decent settlement.

As my client continues to settle into this new phase of her life, she’s shared several project ideas for the new year. I look forward to continuing our work together.

TIP: Spend some time organizing your jewelry. You never know what pieces are hiding in your collection, what is waiting to be reimagined, and what can be sold in order to create a custom piece.

Contact me with any questions.

~ Jane

(212) 923-3328 | jane@jbjewels.com

JB Jewels | Fine Jewelry Redefined