This year I received a little family heirloom known as the Spinster Ring. It belonged to my Great Great (Great?) Aunt Helen. She was my Great Grandmother's Aunt, who never married. She was a hostess of some hotels in Palm Springs, whatever else she was up to is a mystery to the family. We have no idea how she got the ring, if she bought it herself or if someone gave it to her as a gift. There is no documentation or knowledge of what her true stories are. I like to believe they she was entertained by a fabulous man who would take her out whenever he was in town. My Grandmother gave my Aunt the ring when she was past her "prime marrying" age. Possibly in hopes it would give her luck to find a husband, and she wore it every day until she married. And now she's given it to me. We had it cleaned by a local jeweler who told me that the ring is most likely from the early 1940s and was stamped white-gold, probably made in Newark, New Jersey. It's fascinating how some people know their craft so well that they can tell the year and where something originated from one quick look.
More to come on how this new old ring effects my love life...