The Special Meanings Behind Jewelry Gifts

This charm and bracelet represent a personal accomplishment of running the New York City Marathon.

Gifts of jewelry are especially meaningful if it is from someone they love. Special occasions are important to most people and deserve a symbolic gift, like a necklace, a ring, earrings, or a bracelet. Jewelry can have so many different meanings and is such an important part of our lives and our relationships.

Relationships

There are many different types of love relationships. Think about it: How many people do you say, "I love you" to? There are those you love in your immediate family, and then there are those with whom you get into a love relationship. These relationships may lead to engagement and marriage, or they may not. Still, there is love there, and with love comes jewelry.

If you are not ready to make a commitment, but you still need to find a great birthday gift for that special someone, birthstones are great choices for jewelry gifts. Birthstone earrings, a pendant for a necklace, a birthstone ring, or a bracelet are great gifts for a special occasion when you are in a relationship. Another great jewelry gift is a monogram or initial ring, pendant, bracelet, or earrings. These can be great gift ideas for someone within your family, such as a sibling, who you love.

Milestones

There are so many great milestones in our lives, like high school graduation, baptism, college graduation, turning 16, getting engaged or married, getting that first big dream job, or accomplishing something physical such as running a marathon. Jewelry is a great idea for a milestone gift for someone you love and care for. Earrings are great for that special someone who finally graduated from college and landed the job of a lifetime. A charm bracelet full of charms symbolizing their field would be nice for someone who has graduated and gone into a career area such as nursing or law.

Faith-Based Jewelry

For faith-based accomplishments such as baptisms, a cross necklace is a wonderful and very meaningful gift. But because faiths are different everywhere you go in the world, there are many different types of jewelry that represent one's faith. You may give a gift of a pendant that represents St. Christopher, the saint of travel, St. Andrew's cross, Mary, or Jesus to someone who has just started believing in Christianity. The Christian fish symbol might feature in a simple pendant or small earrings. Or choose something featuring a Star of David for a Jewish loved one.

Cross jewelry is a wonderful gift for an occasion that involves someone's Christian faith, such as a baptism.

Post-Cancer Jewelry

A very popular way to congratulate someone special who has beaten breast cancer is to incorporate the pink ribbon symbol into a piece of jewelry. Pink ribbon earrings, pendants, charms, bracelets, and lapel pins can be found in many stores. There are other colors of ribbons that represent other types of cancer, too, such as the gold ribbon, which represents childhood cancer.

Bracelets

Bracelets might feature stones in different colors that represent different things and are sometimes said to provide certain benefits. For instance, a turquoise bracelet is said to help your energy level, heal your emotions, and provide you with balance in your daily life. Pink stones may help to relax you and help you to love yourself and to find worth in yourself. Purple stones might help to get your creative juices flowing, help calm your stresses, and help you to clear your mind. Green stones are said to represent personal growth, while blue stones may symbolize confidence, trust, and loyalty.

Charms on a bracelet can be very representative of who you are as well. The anchor is a symbol that often represents loyalty, faith, and staying grounded. A horseshoe charm might bring good luck, while a circle can symbolize karma and doing good toward others so that good comes around to you.

String bracelets are meaningful (although quite a bit less expensive) because a string bracelet is also known as a wish bracelet. While it won't cost you a lot of money, these are called "wish bracelets" because of the fact that it is believed that you can make a wish when you put it on and when the bracelet falls off, your wish will come true.

Another type of less valuable but sentimental bracelet is the friendship bracelet. Friendship bracelets have been around for many decades, and every little girl will tell you a different way to make them. When the strings are knotted together in certain ways, a decorative and colorful bracelet is made. Friends make and exchange these bracelets, and they represent your friendship with that person.