A piece of jewelry can change the way our outfit looks or even our mood. For some women, it’s pearls; for others it’s diamonds. Most of them wear their jewelry not just for their value but for what they represent — family, love and hard work. These are these women’s best friends.
LULU TAN GAN, fashion designer: My cross necklace and my simple heart-shaped diamond earrings, which were given to me as a dowry and I lost them years ago. But I am still hoping to find them.
CANDY DIZON, jeweler: My favorite piece of jewelry is my two-carat Burmese ruby ring with brilliant and marquise-cut diamonds. It was my very first major purchase. It is also my birthstone and luckily rubies are red because it happens to be my favorite color, too. Truly meant for me.
ALI SOTTO, radio and TV personality: My late mother gave me a pair of pearl-and-diamond earrings that I often wore. I was heartbroken when I lost them to two men on a motorcycle who robbed me in Barcelona last Aug. 12.
KHRISTINE GABRIEL, spokesperson, Everbilena: I’ve always thought of jewelry as something that brings the beauty out of the woman and not the other way around. It’s the reason I chose a classic such as the set of South Sea Pearls that I use whenever I would like to celebrate my womanhood, or at times when I want to win a discussion with a man. Also, I like wearing them a lot in functions abroad because I am proud to tell them these much-coveted pearls are abundant in the Philippines. Next to the South Sea Pearls, I keep a Ruban between-the-finger ring made of white gold and diamonds from Van Cleef and Arpels’ couture collection. It’s a piece of jewelry that is so Khristine — very feminine and enthralling. I fell in love with it when I was strolling down Rue de la Paix in Paris.
DENISE AQUINO, entrepreneur: My pearl earrings. It’s a pair I never leave home without. After studying in Tokyo, the land of the fashionable brave, I began to be daring with fashion and my pair of pearl earrings is what keeps my outfits grounded. My earrings makes me still look classic and sophisticated, they’re the only pieces of jewelry that never go out of style. Plus they give me that instant luminous glow, better than any blusher on the market!
BETH ROMUALDEZ, chef and cookbook author, Cooking Lessons 1 and 2: It’s not really a favorite in the sense that I like wearing it all the time as an accessory. It is actually a permanent fixture on my hand so that I can’t imagine my finger without it. I am referring to a two-carat heart-shaped diamond pinky ring that has been on my little finger for the longest time. It was created by Fe Panlilio back in the late ‘80s and I have worn it since. My students wish the diamond would fall off when I do a cooking demo so they can pick it up! But no chance, it is well done and the design is timeless.
Representative CARISSA OLEDAN COSCOLLUELA: I feel particularly fortunate to have spent a large part of my life in the company of my Lola Liding (Oledan) and have numerous times watched in awe and amazement as she tinkered with the “ingredients” of her trade. I realize that even as a family member, it is a privilege, not a right, to receive jewelry born out of her extraordinary creativity and hard work. When I ask her for something, I tend towards the pieces that hold some sort of sentimental value. When Lola says something like, “Oh, this antique diamond necklace was my mother’s and then she gave it to me when I turned 18,” I am always the first to ask for it. When I take things out of my own box, I find that I am always pulling out and using the pieces that Lola owned and used herself. Lately, I’ve been using as a bracelet a Vacheron Constantin watch which, when Lola bought it in the 1950s, was the smallest watch ever made by the company — I can barely read the time! The strap is still the original thin black silk cord, embellished all around with diamond solitaires. I use it with a few other thin antique diamond bracelets. Sometimes, when I travel for work, I like to dig into her box of brooches, and ask her which ones she wore to the places where my trip would take me. And if she says, “When I went to Madrid in 1976, I used this baroque pearl that I turned into a frog-shaped brooch,” then I would use that when I go. Basically, I just really like wearing something that I know my Lola wore herself many years ago, especially when it has a story about her experiences or her hard work.
LIA BERNARDO, writer: My favorite ring right now is a large rose quartz crystal set in sterling silver from Bohemian Nation in Alabang. It is special to me because it was given to me by the owners, Luis and Candace Gonzalez, as a sign of friendship. Rose quartz is a powerful crystal that enables you to love unconditionally so I wear it all the time to remind myself that we are all one and that we are all connected. This ring heals and empowers me as I wear it.
RIA DE BORJA, MBA student: It would have to be the Atlas ring my mom gave me in my teens. I coveted it for several months and then I woke up one morning — after proving I was worth it — and the first thing I saw was the Tiffany Blue box!