Letter moonstone necklace, for the start of something new

There is a week in most people's lives that nobody sends a card for. Not the wedding week or the new baby week. The other one. The week somebody carries boxes into a flat that is smaller than the last one, or posts a set of keys back through a letterbox, or wakes up on a Monday with an empty diary for the first time in years.

It is a quiet week, and it is usually spent being fine about it in front of everybody else.

The Letter Moonstone Necklace was not designed for that week in particular. It has ended up there rather a lot all the same.

The moment it tends to be bought for

Most initial necklaces are bought for somebody else. A daughter, a goddaughter, a bridesmaid. This one goes the other way about as often. People buy it for themselves, with their own letter on it, in the first fortnight of something new.

A friend leaving a job she was good at and tired of. A sister moving to a city where she knows two people. Somebody going back to the name she had before, and wanting one small thing to mark that rather than an announcement.

It is also a good thing to give when you do not know what to say. A letter and a stone on a chain says I was thinking about you and I am not going to make you talk about it, which is often the most useful message there is.

Moonstone, and what it has long been worn for

Moonstone is a milky white feldspar with a blue light that seems to sit just under the surface and move as you move. Jewellers call that sheen adularescence. Everybody else calls it the bit that makes you keep tilting it towards the window.

In crystal tradition moonstone is the stone of new beginnings. It has been linked with the moon and its cycle for a very long time, and it is traditionally worn for calm, for intuition, and for keeping your feet under you while things are changing shape around you. Roman writers thought it was moonlight gone solid. Travellers once carried it as a stone for safe passage.

We pass those meanings on because they are lovely and because they are old. They are folklore, not promises, and we would not claim anything more for a piece of silver than that.

How it is made

Every one of these is made by hand in our workshop. The letter is cut and finished by hand in sterling silver, then either left as silver or plated in 18kt gold or 18kt rose gold. The pendant stands about 20mm tall, which is big enough to read across a table and small enough to wear under a jumper.

The moonstones are set one at a time. This is the part that cannot be rushed and cannot be done by a machine, because no two stones behave the same way in the light. One will flash blue at the slightest angle. The next one wants to be turned right round before it gives you anything. Sorting them, and deciding which ones go together, is a good part of the morning.

It means no two pendants are exactly alike. That is not a flaw in the process. It is the process.

It is shower and sweat resistant, and it will not tarnish, so it can be worn every day without any fuss about it.

Looking after it

Put it on last. Perfume, hairspray and hand cream all go on first, then the necklace.

Take it off for swimming pools and hot tubs. Chlorine is harder on plating than the sea is.

Wipe it with a soft dry cloth when you take it off at night. That one habit does more than any polish.

Moonstone is a little softer than quartz, so keep it away from grit and from harder stones in the jewellery box. Store it flat, with the chain done up, and it will not tie itself in knots while you sleep.

One last thing

Jewellery does not fix anything. It sits there quietly and it reminds you of the day you bought it, which on some Mondays is enough to be going on with.

You can see the Letter Moonstone Necklace here, in silver, gold and rose gold, with any letter of the alphabet. If you would like to see the rest of what we make by hand in the workshop, have a look round www.annalouoflondon.com.

Anna Lou x

Questions we get asked

Is every moonstone different?
Yes. Each stone is natural and set by hand, so the sheen sits differently on every pendant. Yours will not look exactly like the photograph, and that is rather the point.

Can I wear it in the shower?
Yes. It is shower and sweat resistant and it will not tarnish. Chlorinated water is the one to avoid, so take it off for the pool.

What does moonstone mean?
In crystal tradition it is the stone of new beginnings, worn for calm and for steadiness while things are changing. That is folklore rather than a claim, and it is a good reason to choose it as a gift for somebody starting something.