My grandmother used to have a big box of jewelry. It was always carefully placed on the second shelf of her armoire. When I was little, I loved playing with it, pretending I was an exotic princess. I have no idea why my grandmother trusted me with her little treasure box. Frankly, if I were her, I’d think a dozen times before letting me play with it; the fact that I never lost any of it could only be pure luck. There were so many nice, almost antique, pieces in there: earrings, rings, bracelets and beads. But what I liked the most was a tiny pendant with a blue rock and a golden setting. There was something so exquisite about it, my inner princess simply had to have it! After my grandmother passed away, my mom kept the jewelry box. I am not even sure what happened to it after we moved to the US. I have been trying to find a picture similar to the pendant I remember. The picture above somewhat resembles it but certainly doesn’t do it true justice.

In Russian a pendant is кулон, which is a noun of masculine gender. Its diminutive is кулончик. In fact, if I were to talk about my grandmother’s pendant in Russian, I would most likely use кулончик to emphasize its small size as well as its fragility.