Kids these days, amiright? Sometimes I look at teenagers and think, “how lucky are these amazing people who get to grow up in a world where you have literally everything at your fingertips -- access to information, different worlds and cultures, different aesthetic influences. I think about myself at that age and how all I yearned for was to step outside of the suburban community I reluctantly called home and experience something else...I also look at these teenagers and think about how the weight of the world is already on their shoulders in a way it wasn’t for me. Everything is so pressing now. Applying to colleges is a completely new world of competitiveness and every moment of your life can be recorded (permanently) on social media -- for better or worse. Those fast teenage years are both so much more amazing and so much more precarious.I was reflecting more upon this when a client recently visited us to find something special for her teen daughter who was getting ready to celebrate a milestone. Our client wanted a gift that would be appropriate for a teen -- so a little trendy and definitely cool -- but would also be timeless enough for her daughter to treasure and wear into adulthood. I loved that this would be one of the first “real” pieces of fine jewelry that her daughter would have in her collection.I walked my client through our showroom and gave her a few ideas. Petite studs are always a great option because they’re subtle and add just a hint of style.

14k diamond and freshwater pearl studs, $535 | 14k domed stud earrings, $485

14k handmade molten studs, $250

 Little gold hoops would be perfect for the girl who may not otherwise love the fussiness of jewelry.

14k endless hoops, $50 | 14k beveled hoops, $275

 And, I love these sweet pendant necklaces featuring tiny diamonds. I can see them just as easily on a sixteen-year-old attending her honors ceremony as I can on a young woman going to her first job interview.

14k flower pendant with diamond, $385 (as shown with 14k oval link chain, add $175)14k textured pendant with diamond, $385 (as shown with 14k solid beaded chain, add $475)

 My son is only two (and a half!) so I have a way to go until I have to deal with the trials and tribulations of adolescence. Honestly, when my son is acting like the two year old that he is (in the not-so-great way), I remind myself that at least he isn’t about to get his driver’s license or take some important standardized test that could dictate his entire future. I commend every parent out there who is raising a teenager: it ain’t easy for you, and it ain’t easy for your kids. But, if we can break through the perpetual irony, stress, and anxiety that teenage life so readily entails (and do it on their level), perhaps we can give them something extra special to them: something that says how amazingly proud you are that they can treasure into adulthood (because you know they’ll get there one day).