The necklace

No I haven't bought myself one. I'm reading a book about a diamond necklace and the women who bought it between them on a sort of timeshare basis. The book is called The Necklace: a True Story of 13 Women, 1 Diamond Necklace and a Fabulous Idea by Cheryl Jarvis. The book describes the women concerned and the effect owning a part share of a fabulous necklace had on their lives.

It's a bit too obviously American for my taste but I have to admit it is interesting. They took it in turns to have the necklace for 4 weeks at a time around their birthdays. They did fund raising events as well and raised funds for various charities. They lent it to their daughters to wear at their weddings and to people they knew from work. The necklace went sky diving and riding a motor bike as well as to important social occasions.

What surprised me was it didn't go missing! Many of the women totally evaluated what was important to them because of it and they all formed strong friendships because of it. The necklace acted as a catalyst in their lives. The jeweller they bought it from reckoned it had been worn 700 times in its first year whereas normally a necklace of that sort would probably only be worn 10 - 15 times in a year.

The book is a quick read and I'm finding it interesting because of the way the women dealt with the occasional differences of opinion between them and how they interacted. It seems the sort of story to appeal to the film world - so watch for the film of the book.