Six Things A Little Heart On A Cord Got Right

A note from a reader who drew her friend's name in the book club Christmas draw, ordered one bracelet, and has worn the other one every day since the parcel landed.

I am 64, and at book club in October we drew names for Christmas, the way we have for eleven years. The rule is under fifty dollars and it has to be something you would keep yourself. I drew Pam. I found a little heart on a plain cord on the website of The Mount Coastal Boutique, a small New Zealand boutique I already buy my dresses from, and I ordered one for Pam and, because I am weak, one for me. It is called the Hattie. Mine has been on since the courier bag landed on the deck.

I should say that I have not bought myself jewellery in years. There is a box on the dresser with thirty years of it, thin chains that knot themselves in the dark, a bangle that had a voice of its own on every library desk I ever sat at, the good earrings from Hannah's wedding that have been out once since. Day to day I wear my wedding ring and the watch the library gave me, and that is the lot. So a $42.95 bracelet had to earn its place. Here is how it did.

On, at the kitchen table with the morning cuppa. That is the coral top, and the tan cord sits against it as if it was there first.

What it is

One small flat heart in a soft, worn silver colour, matte rather than shiny, with the cord threaded straight through a slot in the middle of it. The cord is a tan double cord. There is no clasp at all. Two little sliding knots let it out to go over the hand and pull it in to sit on the wrist, and it opens up to 22.8 centimetres.

The six things

1. There is no clasp.My fingers and tiny catches parted company a few years ago, and I have stood at the front door more than once with a chain in one hand and my glasses in the other, giving up. This slides over the hand and pulls snug. I have put it on at the lights on Chapel Street. Graeme: "Under a minute. I timed it."
2. I forget it is on.It weighs nothing. I notice it when I catch it in the mirror at the chemist, and not otherwise, which is the whole test of a thing you wear every day. Maureen, on the Tuesday walk: "You keep touching it."
3. The tan goes with every colour I own.And I own colour now, after a wardrobe that was nine parts black. The green Kwani, the coral top, the teal cardi. The cord sits against all of them as if it was there first, and it does not fight with the watch. Anna, on the phone from Auckland: "Mum, it goes with the green." It goes with everything. That is the point.
4. It does not clatter.Matte, not shiny. It does not flash across a room and it does not tap the desk when I write, which the bangle did for thirty years and which, I am told, the whole reference section noticed. Pam, who has not seen hers yet: "I would have noticed it at book club. That bangle had a voice."
5. It looks like it has a story.And the story is only that I drew Pam's name and could not resist. That turns out to be enough of a story for me. Olive, when she saw it: "Nana, is it a real heart?" Near enough.
6. There is no size to get wrong.Pam's is wrapped. Christine's is ordered, because she is 67 and I have never once got her size right in anything. Nobody has to fight a clasp or post anything back in January. Christine: "You have never got my size right. Good."

Pam's, on top of her parcel before it went under the paper. Brown paper and red twine, because that is what was in the drawer.

Side by side, honestly

The jewellery box on the dresser	The Hattie
Chains that knot in the dark	One cord, two sliding knots
A clasp I cannot do without my glasses	No clasp at all
A bangle with a voice	Matte, quiet, forgets it is there
Gold colour that stopped being gold by March	A matte, worn silver colour that was never trying to be shiny
Needs a size, a box and a receipt	One size, the present that fits everyone
Worn once to a wedding	Worn every day since the courier came

About the price

$42.95 at the moment, from $89.95. That is under the book club limit with change for the wrapping, and it is less than the earrings I wore once to Hannah's wedding. Free NZ Post delivery, usually seven to ten working days, and thirty days to change your mind. I emailed to ask whether the cord would let out far enough for a larger hand, for Christine, and a woman called Susan wrote back the same day. It opens up to 22.8 centimetres, which is plenty.

The honest bit

It is small. If you want something that catches the light from across the room, this is not that piece. And the tan cord is the only colour, so if you were hoping for black, this one is tan.

What I would tell you if we were friends

Buy two. One for you and one for the woman you are always stuck for at Christmas, and the stack discount comes off in the cart when you do. Then stop buying her scarves. If it is for Christmas, order by Friday 4 December. It comes by NZ Post in seven to ten working days, which leaves time to wrap it properly.

If you have ever stood at the front door with a chain in one hand and your glasses in the other, this is the one you put on at the lights.

— Wendy