I have not yet been among those wailing because a child doesn’t get to have an 8th grade graduation or a birthday party or whatever; I would say I have been a combination of stoic (these disappointments are happening to everyone; there is no reason my own special child should be exempt from disappointment) and lucky (so far there have not been many missed events that were Very Important to us). But now we are approaching one that is giving me, while not the urge to wail, a good-sized TWINGE, and it is the twins’ 16th birthday—or, more specifically, Elizabeth’s 16th birthday, because Edward doesn’t care and because I think of Sweet Sixteen parties/gifts as being A Thing for girls but not for boys.
We are not big Party People, but I had been thinking we would do something special for her 16th. She’s at the perfect age for sleepovers: she had one a few months before the pandemic and it was the perfect kind where they all stayed up in her room most of the time, and everyone was old enough to make their own arrangements for drop-off and pick-up. So I guess I was picturing a birthday sleepover, but maybe with something else, too: our local movie theater will rent you a whole room for a pretty reasonable price and that seemed like it would be fun; or maybe they’d all like to dress up and go for a sit-down dinner somewhere, with Paul and me at a different table; or maybe they’d like to do something appealingly silly and retro-babyish like going to Build-a-Bear.
Well. Just like everyone else, we can do a belated celebration. And in fact, since all her friends are turning 16 in this pandemic as well, maybe it can even be a fun thing where we do a whole month of Sixteenth Birthday celebrations, one or two per weekend, once everyone is 16 and vaccinated.
But also, while I have you here, I am looking for ideas for a Special Gift, and I am thinking along the lines of jewelry. When I turned 16, my parents bought me a silver bracelet from a local arts/crafts fair (like, the fancy kind of fair where the artists have to belong to a guild to participate, and everything is Pretty Expensive), and had it engraved, and I really liked that and wore it every day for years and years.
ANYWAY. Something like that. Not super expensive, but expensive ENOUGH.
One classic possibility is A Charm Bracelet, with a few charms to get started. Do people still wear them? I have one that I think was my mom’s, and it’s an item I enjoy owning but don’t wear anymore (almost all of the charms are Christian symbols), and I think I added maybe one charm to it myself, and received maybe one additional charm as a gift. I don’t want to do the Pandora kind, because (1) too expensive and (2) they seem like they’re more for older women. Like, they do sell charms that look like they’re for younger girls, but my impression is that it’s so that older women will get the idea of buying them for younger women, not because younger women like them. I could be completely wrong about this entire thing.
Talking about charm bracelets is making me feel weary instead of excited; I wonder if maybe something less complicated would be better. She has a few inexpensive necklaces she chose, and each of them has a very simple pendant (a small circle, one single rhinestone, one single faux pearl). I could get her a real silver version of one of those.
Or it appeals to me to get her a silver bracelet similar to mine. Or…what if I passed that bracelet down to her? Hm. That has some appeal, although it would appeal more if it had already been passed down a few times: my grandmother’s 16th birthday gift, passed down to my mom and then to me and then to Elizabeth. Perhaps I should wait and get that going by passing it down to a granddaughter on HER 16th. Or let one of the kids decide to do that if they want to, after I die and they inherit it.
Back to the SIMILAR, though: I just went to the website of the art/craft fair, and they have some things online, and they have MANY bracelet options that are the same basic gist as mine!! In fact, it may very well be the same craftsman: his little bio says he’s been doing silver work in our state since a year that is before the year I was born, so. This is my bracelet, which is pretty tarnished but you can get the gist of the style:
It has a hook closure I find appealing, and I used to endlessly pop it open and closed in a fidgety way. So I could get her a SIMILAR one, and get it engraved, and possibly start a little tradition of daughters getting a silver bracelet for their 16th birthday. Or not! Which would also be fine!
Or maybe birthstone earrings, with real versions of the birthstone? Hers is pearl, which seems nice for a special jewelry gift. Pearl would work for a nice simple pendant necklace, too.
Well, what do you think? Did you get something like this for your 16th birthday, and if not, would you have liked to, do you think? And/or what did you do for your daughter’s 16th / do you have anything in mind for your own daughter’s 16th?
I really like the idea of a piece that is made by a craftsman. Something that ei really be a one off.
If you wanted to go with charms. Nomination is a brand that I think suits younger people and more reasonably priced for adding charms https://www.nomination.com/us_en/
I got a PURITY RING for my 16th birthday! Which is not something I am recommending and mine certainly didn’t make it until my wedding….AHEM. However, it was and still is very meaningful to me that my (poor) parents took me to pick out a lovely gift that in charitable retrospect I can view as a gift that both memorialized my 16th birthday and embodied their desire for me to have a healthy transition into adulthood. I don’t wear it anymore, but it would certainly make me sad if I opened my jewelry box and couldn’t find it. So this is my official comment supporting the idea of a 16th jewelry gift! I like the idea of a similar bracelet more than the passing down of the actual bracelet.
I am fairly certain, since the gift for my more recent 40th birthday was nearly appalling and would have been less so had nothing at all been purchased, that I did not get anything worth noting for the my 16th. I definitely did not have a Sweet 16 in the same way my cousin (9 years older, I remember) did.
Having said that, I like the bracelet idea. It’s low key enough but also special. If you’re looking for jeweler ideas – I have a thing for Mignon Faget out of New Orleans. We call my girl child Bean and she has a red bean pendant that we gave to Bean and it was a hit for a few years until she got weird about wearing a bean around her neck. I”m not sure if this was peer related (as in someone was snarky) or the fear someone would be snarky.
Also, I know there are tons of people doing tons of things all over but I have now gone down a rabbit hole. (zero affiliation with any of them, many sell at Jazz Fest in NOLA, which is how I am familiar with them)
These are really cool: https://www.nikifisk.com/small-circle-shadowbox
These are also cool: https://www.ilovegogojewelry.com/
and now I’ve stopped before I buy a whole bunch of jewelry I will never wear. But there is cool stuff. Just the festing in place from Blues & BBQ festival showed me a whole bunch of things. Like the shadowboxes and someone has jellyfish jewelry and octopi!
What did you get the older kids for their 16th birthdays? Maybe that would help. Is it more of a gendered thing, where we ornament our girls but not our boys? I did not grow up in a heteronormative family so this is all new to me!
Yes, I think of Sweet Sixteen and jewelry as being generally A Thing for girls, but not for boys. I asked Edward about it just in case, and he was very uninterested in the entire concept.
Just want to offer another perspective on the gender aspect. My kiddos are currently 17 (boy) and almost 15 (girl). Boy couldn’t care less about gifty things or any possessions unless they are video game/computer or music (he’s a serious guitar player) related. However, he is very extroverted with a wide group of friends, and was interested in a party. He was NOT interested in the planning, so his younger sister helpfully put together Pinterest boards for him to say yay or nay to. We ended up having a taco truck in our backyard (September) with a “bougie” s’mores bar for the firepit. We bought tons of glow toys of various kinds (necklaces, sunglasses, light saber thingies, etc.) It was casual and kids came and went all night. TONS of fun, he absolutely loved it. Six months later, Covid hit, and I couldn’t be more grateful that we were able to celebrate him in this way. Long story short: As a parent, hopefully you know your kids well enough to have an idea of what’s important to them!
If it’s her style, I think I pair of simple pearl earrings would be lovely. They are classic and versatile, and something she could hand down to a child of her own.
In this vein, my grandmother and aunt gave me an “add a pearl” necklace, slowly and forever, that I finally had when I was 20?
The story was: other relative was going to do it for cousin. G & A thought “what a good idea!” we shall do this for the female grandchildren (there are like 7 of us, minus one who was already getting one from a different source, so 6)! And my birthday was next? So they started it and realized it was hella pricey (it’s been appraised for $5,000 and I should get it redone) and stopped but couldn’t stop MINE, so I have a pearl necklace. I love that thing. LOVE IT. It’s awesome. A friend wore it to a Mardi Gras ball, I wore it to my wedding, I wore it in family photos recently, I wore it to the funerals of those who gave it to me. That is my piece of jewelry.
Evidently there is some animosity about the fact that I have this thing and no one else does (but not towards my younger cousin who also has one, just different source). IDK. Weirdos. All y’all have bigger houses than I do, get over it. However, I cannot see a single one of your boy children being jealous of Elizabeth’s pearl jewelry. Pearls are so constantly classic. i have a pair of pearl stud earrings too, that I think came from the aunt that bought me the necklace after she passed away. Or the grandmother? These things both happened while I had infants and details there are fuzzy.
I just started a necklace based on this post. I am so excited. I ordered the silver chain since it sounds like you end up re-stringing them at the end anyway. Yaaaay
Oh, so fun!
Yes. I’m not sure how it worked exactly. I would see it for brief periods (3 months?) between when it was started and when I got it for reals (which was YEARS and YEARS). And it was definitely a metal chain but the pearls were strung in between with string or whatever they use. Now it’s a clasp and pearls with knots in between. I really do LOVE IT. I can’t wear it all the time, but I wear it enough. And the pearls have proven to be less delicate than one would think. They do come from the digestive tract of an oyster that lives in salt water, so.
I have another necklace with a single pearl on it (unsure if it’s real, but I think it would fare worse if it were fake) and I wear that thing in the ocean, in the shower, whatever. It’s fine. I think the strings breaking are a bigger risk than the pearls suffering a lot of damage.
“They do come from the digestive tract of an oyster that lives in salt water, so.”
LOL! Yes! I’m ridiculously excited. It’s going to be TINY, but I love the idea so much. It looks like you send it in whenever you want to add more pearls. They have jewelers or techs you can call to help you plan what to add next. I’m going to do the graduated pearl thing so there will be an opportunity to buy every size over the years, depending on budget. Thanks again for your story, this is AMAZING! (For everyone else, my total was around 70 bucks for the lowest-cost single pearl starter necklace.
A charm bracelet seems very uncomfortable to me. Who wants all that crap jangling around while she’s trying to do things? Your bracelet idea is lovely – one from the same crafter. Has E ever expressed that she likes the bracelet you have? Just thinking of my almost 15-year old’s taste and that isn’t it. But if it is E’s, I vote for something close to yours.
I have a charm bracelet that I love… and never wear, for the reasons you mentioned. My mom gave me most of the charms as birthday/Christmas gifts over the years and I love seeing the little things that reminded her of me, but the bracelet is pretty much impossible to wear because it’s bulky and the charms catch on everything.
But!
It just occurred to me that I could turn it into a charm NECKLACE and a google image search is making me feel very optimistic about this plan. However, at 36, I am just a wee bit older than Elizabeth, and as my 18 year old constantly reminds me, old and uncool. It’s quite possible that charm jewelry is hopelessly outdated.
My dad got me a puzzle ring when I was 13, with some cheesy line about how life is a puzzle…and I wore it every day until I had to take it off because I was pregnant, and should probably start wearing it again but I have to get my wedding ring resized and I don’t know.
But I remember it being a fun thing to fiddle with, and a fun conversation starter with classmates who would try to figure out how to solve itr (maybe especially with boys?)
I saw your tweet, and came back to mention that my best friend had a ring that had I think moonstone carved into a moon face, and she also wore it every day for at least a decade and it was very memorable as her signature piece of jewelry to the extent that I’d think of her immediately if I saw it anywhere. It doesn’t have to be the stone that’s valuable, it can also be the metalwork and the craftsmanship. With so many craft shows on hiatus right now, you might even be able to get something custom, and let Elizabeth specify what design she likes.
I loved my puzzle ring so much. So, so much, all the way from ~15yr to 20yr (at which point I met a jerk who half-ruined puzzle rings for me by having plans for how to more efficiently cheat on his upcoming marriage to a really nice girl [this marriage fortunately did not happen] by wearing a puzzle ring for his wedding ring so he could act innocent and imply that since it was currently assembled and on his finger, it must never have left his finger, but that’s not normal and was not mockery-related, just weird and gross and *why*?).
I didn’t wear mine all the time even while it was 100% “I love puzzle rings!” because I was really on the move and just didn’t do jewelry much because it got in the way, but I wore it sometimes and loved fiddling with it, and it also looked really classy.
I still think they’re super-cool and would wear one. I am now uncool, though, so take with grain of salt…
Oh I had a puzzle ring that I wore for YEARS and absolutely loved (a piece of one of the rings broke off so I had to stop wearing it). I used to tease boys that I would marry the one who could put it together. One adorable sweetheart got 3 of the 4 pieces sort of together and asked “is this enough to at least get engaged?”. We didn’t end up together of course, but it was very cute and appealing at the time.
Alex and Ani is a little bit like a younger Pandora. But possibly a similar price point.
Yes, I second Alex and Ani!
My older daughter got some 16th birthday Special Earrings, some simple gold hoops. I am sorry to say that my second daughter’s 16th birthday was a year ago, at the start of the pandemic, and I did not even remember that I had gotten gold hoops for the first daughter. Her second pandemic birthday will be Tuesday. Maybe I should look into doing something like this too.
When I was in high school class rings were all the rage. I told my parents I didn’t want a class ring. I wanted something that I could keep wearing after graduation. On my 16th birthday they surprised me with a birthstone ring. I have worn it on my right hand ever since. I had lost one of the teeny tiny diamonds that surround the center birthstone and for Christmas this year my husband had it repaired and replaced the stone. I’m 40 and plan on wearing it the rest of my life. My daughter turns 16 this year. We got her a Pandora charm bracelet when she was 10. She loved it and wore it for a several years. Her charms are an owl, ladybug, ballet slippers, book, teacup, etc. I think she has kind of outgrown it. You just never know what gifts will have lasting power.
The birthstone ring is a great idea!
My almost 15 year old says charm bracelets are a NO. But a nice pair of earrings or the bracelet like yours would be great.
I definitely think you can’t go wrong with pearl earrings. Classic and appropriate for almost any type of special day she might have in her future.
I love the silver-bracelet-from-same-artist idea, or a simple pearl something.
Mostly I felt like commenting that thinking about this has led me to conclude that pearl is the ideal birthstone for gift options: you can find perfectly nice jewelry ranging from modest prices to $$$$, and they can stay easily wearable and stylish over generations?
My engagement ring was a pearl and I LOVED it.
I got a gold initial necklace when I was 16. I wore it for years, and still have it, but don’t wear it anymore. My daughter who is almost 15 prefers more delicate jewelry. Etsy has so many lovely options for initial necklaces: shorturl.at/sGISU or shorturl.at/wxDU2
If you wanted to go the birthstone route, these delicate bead “bar” necklaces are great, and you could get one in pearl: shorturl.at/dDG07
I love shopping for theorhetical teenage girl gifts! Thanks for the diversion!
Nothing particular for 16, but on my 18th birthday my parents gave me a silver and blue topaz (my birth stone) necklace, that is still one of my favourites. I wore it on my wedding day. I think it was the first piece of jewellery I had from a Real Jeweller.
Have you considered a locket? There are smallish ones that are similar to the dainty necklaces that are in right now, but you could put a special picture in it (her parents! Her CAT).
There is a local jewelry store that does a “forever bracelet”, which is a very fine gold chain that they weld to your wrist or ankle (it comes off with strong scissors or wire cutters, so it’s not like a manacle or anything). I personally love this idea, and I think I’m going to get one for myself. I thought about what a special outing it might be to go with my daughter and both get one done, but I can also imagine that some people might find that overly corny/creepy.
That makes me feel claustrophobic just thinking about it!
I was going to say I received a beautiful silver locket when I was 16, and loved it. I had photos in it and it was also engraved with flowers. LOVED IT.
I love the idea of you passing down your bracelet to be passed down again to her daughter…if she likes/enjoys/would wear yours. If not, I suggest talking to Elizabeth and telling her your ideas and get what would be the most meaningful cherished item. A bracelet she picks out? Pearl earrings or necklace?
I got matching James Avery (silver dangle ring) of a dove when I was 8 with my mom. That was special and meaningful to me that my own daughters got lockers when they were baptized (8). I remember when I was in high school my parent got me a ring and let me pick it out, it was a jeweled flower in red, blue, or green jewels. I think I picked red and later went back and got a green one. Those meant a lot and I enjoyed being involved in the choosing (like a woman being involved in her engagement ring picking).
I agree that this sentimental/jewelry/gifts seem more important to the girls. I checked in with my boys and they were not interested.
My daughter already had one James Avery ring that she loves and I got her another for her 16th birthday: https://www.jamesavery.com/products/margarita-ring?metal=Sterling+Silver
James Avery used to be just a Christian jeweler but now they have lots of things.
When my daughter was born, my husband bought a set a pearl earrings with a small diamond and a matching necklace (gold chain w/ the pearl/small diamond). I wore them for special occasions (her baptism, etc) and then we gave them to her for her 16th birthday. I received jewelry for my 16th (an amethyst ring) which I wore until I had my daughter when I was 30. I still have the ring, but it is pretty beat up now. Go with special jewelry.
Go with special jewelry. I got a pair of pearl earrings when I turned 16, and I was devastated when I lost one in college, and so I got another piercing in my left ear to continue wearing it.
My aunt got me an opal ring for my 16th that I treasured for a good many years. And I did convince my parents to drop my friends and I off at a hip pizza place and we definitely got kinda cool/dressed up for it. Oh, sixteen. ❤️
For dainty jewelry, she may like Catbird. Reasonable prices for stunning things. Very much that aesthetic.
https://www.catbirdnyc.com/sweet-nothing-choker-silver.html
https://www.catbirdnyc.com/dollhouse-heart-locket-gold.html
https://www.catbirdnyc.com/pearl-friendship-bracelet-pink.html
Oohhh thank you for this suggestion, I see several options for my daughter’s college graduation gift!
I’m one of three sisters, and my parents all got us nice rings with our birthstones for our sixteenth birthdays.
I’m a February baby and have always loved my amethyst birthstone (what’s not to love about purple, right?) Sixteen-year-old me picked out a ring with an amethyst cut into a heart shape and a small diamond. Fifty-year-old me wonders sometimes if I am…too mature now to wear a ring with a heart-shaped gem. And yet in recent Before Times when I wore it, strangers still constantly complimented me on it, so I guess maybe I’m not too old?
I think the silver bracelet idea is lovely, Swistle.
Karen Walker is a New Zealand designer who has some lovely stuff. I have her bee necklace (https://www.karenwalker.com/jewellery/all-jewellery/bee-pendant-silver-kw187pnstg/silver), an acorn necklace (it connects to my family crest) and an axe. She’s famous for her runaway girl which has the qualities I would like for my daughter, strong and independent but undoubtedly feminine. https://www.karenwalker.com/jewellery/collections/all-jewellery-collections/runaway-girl-large-pendant-gold-kw86pn9y/gold
They’re also fantastic quality and have great customer service. I had a chain break years after I got it and they replaced it no questions asked. They’re fun and young and occasionally a bit subversive (she has a temptation ring). She even has a new range with pearls!
My mom and I purchased charms bracelets and charms for my three girl cousins. It was great fun to chose charms to represent stuff they were going through. Well, that may be a project that is more interesting to the giver than the giftee.
I will third the above recommendations for James Avery as a jewelry company to look at.
It is too bad that she dislikes pearls, because Pearl stud earrings or a drop necklace are classic pieces that she could wear forever.
My vote would be for the craftsman bracelet. Or an Alex and Ani bracelet (I do adore those). I also ordered a gorgeous handmade necklace from Landon Lacey Jewelry on Etsy and it was perfect and the recipient loves it.
I enjoy pieces from this website, although shipping takes a couple of weeks: https://www.indieandharper.com/
I’d vote for getting her a nice version of something that she already likes.
I don’t think I got anything specific for my 16th, but around that time I was getting a lot of Black Hills Gold jewelry. I wonder if that’s even a thing anymore?
I was going to mention Black Hills Gold, which was definitely a thing when I was in high school. I figured it was regional since I grew up in ND. Anyway, I bought myself a Black Hills Silver ring (same style as the gold) as a 17th birthday present for myself with money from my first job. I still wear it all the time. Might be a fun retro look if kids are into that.
We didn’t have a jewelry giving tradition in my family, but I have inherited some nice pieces from my grandmothers. I’ve always loved the cameos.
Oh! And my mom wanted to buy me something on a trip we took together to Ukraine 20 years ago. I found some moonstone earrings that I still love. I’ll send a photo through twitter
My mom gave me a simple emerald cut birthstone ring when I turned 16. I wore it at the time, then decided I only liked silver settings during the 2000s. For years it sat in my jewelry box, until one day during my 30s, I changed my mind about yellow gold and started wearing my “sweet 16 ring” again. It’s now one of my favorites. I’m so happy I still have it. Side note: I also treasure my simple pearl earrings and wear them more than any other pair of earrings. Please share what you decide upon. I wanna see! : )
My daughter turns 16 this summer too. She absolutely despises all jewelry – and earrings – and has so for years. It’s not because she’s sporty, because she’s not, but she just went from being a super girly preschooler and a young elementary girl who liked dresses and skirts – to a girl who hates dresses, skirts, and all jewelry. We did get her a nice necklace when she was baptized at maybe age 7 or 8 but she has never worn it. So definitely no jewelry for her birthday. I have no idea what we will get her. And it’s in 3 months. My husband said he looked into sky diving for her – but you have to be 18 it said. So that was a no-go. She wants to try adventurous stuff like that.
16 wasn’t a huge deal when I was growing up in the UK, so I don’t remember what I got. 18 was more of a thing.
Luggage? Or whitewater rafting?
This may not be a thing anymore, but slacklining is really fun – it’s like a tightrope you set up between two trees, except it is 1. as you might expect, slack, not tight, and 2. a flat strap rather than round. Challenging, slightly terrifying [it wobbles; you are off the ground although probably not so far off the ground as to break something when/if you fall], really fun.
Not a single BIG event, though, and not brag-about-able like skydiving. Scuba? Bungee jumping? Zip lines? Rock climbing? Not sure what is open to the under-18s…
I got a tent for a graduation gift. Is she outdoorsy?
I have no advice, but I have the exact same bracelet (although not engraved). I think it may have been a gift from someone at my Bat Mitzvah – so 1985.
I’ve noticed teen girls and up wearing the Kendra Scott brand necklaces. Sold at Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Kendra Scott store. Lots of different styles. Appears to be the “in” thing around here.
http://www.interstellarlovecraft.com/shop/awaken-ring
I have one of these rings and I love it. I love the symbolism and the shape seems unique and special. The jewelry designer is loc to me and seems to have good values.
Mejuri has cute and simple jewelry at a variety of price points! It has been the go-to gift for my cousins 17-25.
I second Mejuri, lovely fine jewellery, reasonably priced.
Well this hit me hard because I recall the twins as very very young children and this is a reminder of time passing and some 15 years on ye olde inter webs. I was recently looking through blog posts of my toddler who will be 16 in the fall. Anyway. Zero ideas beyond a drivers test appointment. (If they are into that) but thank you for the reminder that I should be thinking about something special for sweet 16. My parents gave me a memorable surprise party. I don’t recall any particular gifts.
I was going to suggest birth stones until I got to the end and realised you were already there. But a real silver pendant with her birth stone as the pendant part would be so lovely and unlikely to go out of fashion anytime soon?
My twins turned 16 last June, also during the pandemic. It was sad, but they organized their own party where everyone sat outside on our lawn in spaced apart lawn chairs. They hadn’t seen each other since the schools closed in March, so it was still pretty fun. And there were cupcakes! An overnight would have been better, of course, but everyone stayed for about 6 hours and there was a lot of giggling and laughing.
I like the idea of a silver claspy bracelet. I’ve had a charm bracelet but generally I think they don’t age well, at least mine didn’t age with my taste. I still have it, but it’s in a drawer and I never wear it (also, it’s poky and hurts!) I love the idea of a nice piece of jewelry in general – it just hits that Sweet Sixteen sort of “flavor.”
For my 16th birthday we had just moved from Virginia to California (Navy family). We were stuck in a hotel for a month for that move – my parents in one room and me plus 4 younger siblings in another. We had 99 cent Whoppers from Burger King and my parents bought me a shirt with a sunflower on it, and a giant Led Zeppelin boxed set. Laaame. But my thirtieth and fortieth birthdays were pretty fun! And I remember my parents’ attempts to make it special were done with love.
My grandmother passed away a couple weeks before my 16th birthday, and my grandfather gave me the gift they had planned on giving me together, which carried even more meaning given the recent loss of my grandmother. It was her original engagement stone made into a necklace. They had upgraded her ring at some point and I don’t remember if she had worn the necklace or if that was made specifically for me, but it was a beautiful and touching present from people I loved very much. I wore it for years. My taste changed to silver and with young kids I hardly wear any jewelry at all but I still have it and love it. Maybe I’ll start wearing it again when my youngest is out of her grabbing stage. And it feels like the perfect thing to pass on to one of my own children.
One comment about pearls (my birthstone too). They require more care than other birthstones, like not getting them wet, sprayed with perfume, etc. It’s not hard but 16 year olds vary in responsibility. I also like to put on jewelry and leave it on for awhile which is not great for pearls.
What about a monogrammed signet ring? I’d do white gold not silver for durability. Classic, timeless. I’ve seen them on Etsy for about $200.
Happy 16th to the twins!! I got a black hills gold ring for my 16th birthday, which I LOVED but which was also very specific to the place and time I grew up in, I’m afraid. I don’t have the first clue what I will do for Ava’s Sweet 16 since she doesn’t do jewelry AT ALL. UGGG.
Quinceaneras are very popular in our area, and I’m hearing that Ava is expecting to be invited to several delayed parties over the summer/fall.
For parties, I love the movie theater idea, but if you’re willing to spend a bit more and invite fewer kids, we’ve had great success with a stay at a niceish hotel with adjoining rooms for the parent(s). Ava also attended a pre-pandemic party at one of those blowout/hairstyling places, and that seemed to get rave reviews.
My twin daughters turned 15 last fall, and I gave them both nice birthstone earrings (sapphire) as well as small silver hoop earrings and a promise to let them get their ears double-pierced. Which we did about a month later. I’m a big fan of the Special Earrings idea.
I loved my clip-on watch (apparently it was a golf watch? Clipped to my side jeans belt loop, was heavy-duty, cool people actually wanted to borrow it); I also loved a Mary Englebrecht (or however you spell her) watch necklace; it was subtle because the picture was small, but it had personality. (okay, sass, specifically.) I tried three times to get the necklace watch repaired after it had a session with a small child and a magnet – like, tried until I was over 25 years old, to get that to work again. Sigh.
Anyway, all that to say, odds are decent that phones have utterly replaced watches, period, but I loved those as functional but decorative pieces. (I also had a necklace that held a probably 3/4″ sphere of polished stone and loved that – the rock was so complex and 3D inside, with where it reflected or didn’t and such. That was more in the $6 range, though, rather than the $20 and up range.)
I love the idea of getting a higher quality version of the pendant type necklace you know she likes. Madewell has a lot of pretty necklaces that are nice quality for costume jewelry, as well as some more expensive pieces.
When I turned 16 my parents got me a set of teensy diamond earrings set in white gold. I wore them in my second holes for years and am still fond of them (the earrings and my parents).
I didn’t have a Sweet 16 party. I grew up in a town where most people were of Mexican descent and had quinceaneras so Sweet Sixteens weren’t a thing commonly done there. But then I felt like I kind of got cheated out of a big to-do because I wasn’t Latina and couldn’t have a quinceanera, but there was also no expectation in my family’s social circle that there would be a Sweet 16 so there was…nothing.
For my own kids, I am leaning toward doing a special vacation with just mom and dad for the milestone birthday (I haven’t decided yet if we’ll make the Big Deal Birthday the 15th or 16th; my oldest is currently only 9). I have a friend who has done this with her teens and I think it’s just the most fun idea. The child gets to pick the location and then gets a one-on-one trip with the parents to that destination. They took one child to Iceland, one to Paris, and one to Alaska. I don’t know if our budget will be that extravagant, but I figure even a weekend getaway to somewhere within the US could be a fun way to mark a big birthday. I like this idea because it’s non-gendered (something that I think both my son and daughters would equally enjoy) and because we live in a diverse city where there’s really no expectation of a party. People here seem equally divided between bar/bat mitzvahs at 13, quinceaneras at 15, sweet 16s, and nothing. So I think we could do a trip to mark the occasion and not have the kids feel like they wish they’d had a party instead (and, frankly, if I’m going to spend a good amount of money on something I’d rather spend it on a vacation then a party!).
My parents did a trip for each of us for our high school graduations. Just the kid that graduated and one or both parents. Nothing over the top- one brother went to DC with Dad and I went to NYC with mom and dad which also tied into a cousins college graduation. I can’t remember what other brother did. But it was nice, especially since we never did many vacations that weren’t to visit family.
I think for sweet 16 I had a sleepover and got my drivers license.
Oh yes, that reminds me: we do a family vacation every year (well, not in the last year, but normally we do) and I have promised that the year a kid turns 16 they get to pick the destination that year. It won’t be on their birthdays since they are both born during the school year, but the picking and the planning should be fun!
I received a pair of small diamond earrings that I still have 21 years later and an awesome pair of Doc Marten Mary Janes that I wish I still had. 🙂. I like the idea of a piece of unique or classic jewelry as long as that is something she would like.
It is interesting to me that I’ve always thought the default 16th birthday gift is a gold birthstone ring. That’s what everyone i knew received as their big 16th birthday gifts in the late 80s-early 90s (when I and my friends were all turning 16). I thought that was some kind of American tradition, I guess? But as for many things one assumes are traditional, perhaps they are not.
That said, a lovely birthstone ring seems like just the thing as a first piece of “real” jewelry. Since apparently it’s traditional to me, that’s what my own daughter will be getting!
My mom gave me her charm bracelet— it had either no charms or few, I don’t recall. I LOVED adding charms to it and was devastated when it was lost (stolen?) out of my luggage. I still hope it might turn up nearly 15 years later.
Also, this might ruin the element of surprise, but have to ASKED Elizabeth? Maybe this could be a fun joint project?
I wasn’t allowed to get my ears pierced until I was 12 and by the time I was 12 I didn’t care so I just…didn’t. But friends made me get them pierced when I was 19 and for my 21st birthday my parents got me pearl earrings, which I still have and wear. I genuinely don’t recall what I got for my 16th birthday. I’m sure my parents would have got me something meaningful but it is lost to the sands of time.
I still don’t have mine pierced! I had a crushing fear of needles as a teen and 20-something. Now that I’m over it I just can’t be bothered. I think I may be the only woman I know with no piercings, but that has a tattoo.
I received jewelry for my 16th, but I was a Jewelry Kid from very early on and my mom is also very into it. She had a garnet that was a family piece, which her grandmother brought back from a trip to Russia (so the story goes) made into a ring. I love the idea of a bracelet from the same craftsman if possible. I personally never could wear most bracelets, my wrists are weirdly narrow, but a clasp one like that would have worked.
But also, my husband bought a lovely necklace for the first Christmas after our first baby, with her birthstone, and I wore that daily for years. So a “real” version of the type she likes would also be very nice.
I got an amethyst ring when I was 17. I LOVE it. In fact, I’m going to have it sized up so I can wear it again. It was my birthstone of choice, not my real birthstone.
This has made me realize I have no memories of my 16th birthday. Not what presents I got or anything I did to celebrate. I was going through a multi-year rough patch then socially, so there wouldn’t have been a party.
If we got jewelry for North’s 16th, which is a year off, it might be another ear piercing (and earrings to go with it). They’ve mentioned wanting a helix or an industrial, though not recently, so maybe that desire has faded. Plus, they don’t wear earrings much in the three holes they have in their ears, so the more I think about it the less likely it seems.
A friend organized a “surprise” sweet sixteen party for me (not a surprise because she wasn’t very subtle), and my future husband was there (I had a crush on him before we ever started dating) and I just remember it being rather embarrassing. She meant well though. No special presents, but I got books, which I loved.
A nice necklace or earrings sound great, if she is into that. I can’t wear bracelets because I have very small wrist bones and they just don’t fit! But I think the birthstone rings or necklaces or bracelets are an awesome idea.
A mother-daughter day? Or a shopping trip to pick out the special item? I loved my Mom and miss her everyday, and I craved those let’s go shopping together days. We did but they were usually for school clothes and necessities, not those special birthday items.
I received a “grown up” jewelry box for my 16th birthday that is my jewelry box to this day. It has a little engraved “happy 16th birthday from” plate inside that makes me smile when I notice it. It no longer suits my room or my style particularly well, but you can bet it’s not going anywhere.
I also received a very simple birthstone necklace I wore for years with casual clothes but don’t really wear now. My sister is a good bit younger and has opal for her birthstone. My now husband found a beautiful vintage looking fancy enamel and opal necklace that we gave het for her 16th birthday. She still wears it for almost every dress up event. She has probably worn it fewer times, but I think it has actually held up better over time as a milestone gift.
Also, the tradition of passing a piece down has to start somewhere. I think I would have really liked receiving a piece of my mom’s jewelry that was meaningful to her.
One of my daughters got her belly button pierced for her 16th and the other one got her nose pierced. The nose one also wanted to get her daith pierced, but the place we went to will only do daith piercings on 18+ people. My kids also got their driver’s licenses right around their 16th birthdays, and getting added to the family insurance was their “big gift” as far as I was concerned.
Where we live kids can get their learners’ permits when they turn 16, so I’m pretty sure any expensive presents for my daughter on her next birthday will revolve around that: driver’s lessons, insurance, etc. It’s possible that a contribution towards a car will figure in there, but it might be well after she gets her full license and has time to save up some money, so that will likely be closer to her 17th birthday.
I already have a wallet made by the same craftsman who made my wallet that my mom gave me years and years ago, and a simple gold ring with her birthstone (garnet) set in it to give her.
My sister asked for and got a locket for a major birthday, but I think it was her 21st birthday since that’s the big one where my dad is from (Scotland). He offered to get me something if I picked what I wanted, but was away doing my Masters and never got around to deciding, so I never got anything “landmark” like that.
I’m another fan of the birthstone ring. The three girls in my family got them for eighth grade graduation, which in retrospect might have been a little young – my jewelry tastes shifted from gold to silver sometime around senior year. But until then, I wore the ring all the time, and I still have it and plan to continue the tradition for my own two daughters. I personally like the idea of a ring over a bracelet or a necklace because rings have a bit more permanence to me. Like, I almost never take off my wedding rings, and before I was married, I had other rings I wore pretty much daily. And I’ve noticed my older daughter (10) will actually wear and leave a ring on for long stretches of time, whereas all other jewelry is usually worn only to coordinate with her outfit.
That said, I like both your bracelet idea and pearl earrings – something classic like that that never goes out of style and could be worn for all kinds of special occasions for her entire life, so.
At the college I attended, the girls’ families had gifted jewelry at birthdays/milestones. The typical order seemed to be—
16 – Pearl earrings
18 (high school grad) – 18k gold hoops or love knots
College grad – diamond earrings
Boys got nice watches at graduation.
Your mention of silver made me recall the Tiffany silver bean pendant. It was The Thing for my circle in my mid 20s. I looked and they still sell it.
My daughter’s 16th was 10 years ago, so we had the luxury of giving a party. We did a high tea with all her friends, it makes me laugh to look back at it-we went CRAZY overboard! I was making cucumber sandwiches like 15 minutes before the girls arrived, and the desserts were nuts. We had so much food for about 10 girls. I wish we would have gotten a special present, but I think we gave her money to buy her own. I do believe she had a great time though.
My sixteenth birthday was a big thing for me, but for junior high and high school graduation my parents got me a pair of real grown-up earrings (for junior high it was a pair of tiny garnet studs, and for high school it was a few little garnets and a tiny diamond in the center). I doubt either of those were super crazy expensive, but I’m 38 now and those are still my go-to earrings for a variety of events. So I love the silver bracelet tradition! But if that falls through, I vote for the pearl earrings because they’re special and meaningful, but also versatile and she’ll potentially wear them for the next 20+ years so you’ll get your money’s worth ;)
The bracelet is nice and has meaning. I really like the idea of incorporating her birthstone in earrings or pendant necklace- pearls are so classic!
My mom bought me a yellow gold ring that was oval shaped with a little swoopy thing across the middle, the swoopy thing had little diamonds. That was almost 26 years ago and I still wear it.
I think gold would be a better choice if you can afford it. It’s just a more classic option, a simple gold bracelet she can wear every day or an 18″ chain with a simple pearl pendant. Check etsy, they have good prices on chains.