Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac. I’ve always liked that line from Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer.” I was only 9 when the song came out in 1984, so it would not become a favorite until I started hearing it on the classic-rock radio station sometime in the early 1990s, as a teenager speeding around town in a lovelorn daze.
Since then it’s come to emblematize a kind of perfectly sun-drenched June day from my youth. With the end of the school year drawing nigh, the reins always loosened and there was no need to account for your whereabouts. No more track practice or lengthy homework assignments. After seventh period, you could sneak into the boyfriend’s basement and then slink back home long after dinner, the sun still high in the sky.
Can a piece of jewelry harness this nostalgia—the impossibly golden light, the Gap cutoffs, the Sun In–ed hair in a ponytail, the languorous embracing on an old tweed couch?
For me, there is a little bit of this mise-en-scène come to life in jewelry designer Jenna Blake’s delightful heishi bead necklaces. (Heishi refers to the small disc-shaped beads made from organic shells and stones; the style originates with the people of Kewa Pueblo, formerly Santo Domingo Pueblo, of New Mexico).
But perhaps a more universal metaphor is the jewels being worn by the grown-up version of the girl in Henley’s song.
I can see you
Your brown skin shining in the sun
You got your hair slicked back and those
Wayfarers on, baby…
Maybe that girl lives in the suburbs now. Maybe she drives a Honda CR-V and she’s on her way to the Pilates studio—the beach can wait. The ship has sailed on Dairy Queen blizzards, but she’s been known to down a Daily Harvest smoothie between Zoom calls. And when the light shines a certain way, when “Sugar Magnolia” wafts from the playlist, there’s no question: She’s thinking about a boy she used to know. If she closes her eyes, she can smell his skin.
We’ve been tracking a bead necklace trend since last year, and Blake’s heishi beads have a uniquely windswept, free-spirited vibe, perfect for whether you’re wistful for the past or living in the moment. There is something very resort-town souvenir shop about the necklaces’ look, but instead of wampum shells you get artful compositions of coral, turquoise, diamonds, and 18k gold.
Imagine how these pieces will look with the necklaces that have been languishing in your jewelry box all these months. Throw on a jumble of them, hit the road, and see if you don’t feel 17 again. But, you know, maybe bring some sunscreen just in case.
Top: Jenna Grosfeld, founder and designer of Jenna Blake, selected this necklace, $4,800, as her favorite in the range. “The unique combination of pink and turquoise is hard to come by in fine jewelry,” she tells JCK. “I love the drama created by the contrasting colors against the white- and cream-shaded beads. It takes any serious diamond necklace and makes it just a little less serious and a little more playful, setting the backdrop for a dreamscape neckline.”
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