Read My Pins_ Stories From a Diplomat's Jewel Box - Madeleine Albright [21]
Gift from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library.
The 2008 election was one of the most exciting in memory. I was honored during the campaign to spend time working on foreign policy with the winner, President Barack Obama.
JIM BOURG/REUTERS
Flower with pearl, Russell Trusso.
JIM BOURG/REUTERS
Obama pins, Ann Hand.
Kangaroos and hippo (with friend), St. John Knits.
Desert village. The golden palm tree is from Saudi Arabia, the dwellings are from Egypt.
Palm tree, WRA;
desert dwellings, Arabic markings.
Early in my life, my mother’s ring served as a means for connecting one generation to another. When I was a young woman, the gift of a fraternity pin was an emblem of romance. In maturity, the brooches I bought for myself were signs of growing confidence and independence. In government, I used pins as a diplomatic tool. Now that I am out of office, my hobby often serves as an icebreaker. Before or after a speech, or while standing in line at the airport or supermarket, I am frequently asked about the pin I am wearing or to comment on one worn by somebody else. Such conversations, once initiated, can lead anywhere. I will not forget the woman who spoke enthusiastically about my pins before proceeding cheerily to compliment my overall appearance. “You look great,” she said. “Just like my grandmother. She’s 106 and as fit and sharp as she can be.”
Although I remain busy, I do have more time than previously to shop in Washington and around the United States. I also often pick up pieces while overseas. In a less troubled world, we would ordinarily think of jewelry as sending a friendly message, or at least not a violent one. In the post-9/11 era, however, even bottles of mouthwash and tubes of toothpaste can be considered threats. Perhaps I should not have been surprised, then, when a security agent stopped me at an airport gate and asked to examine a brooch I had just purchased in Turkey. The pin is of a slithery dragon wrapped around a small silver sword. Nothing to worry about, except that the sword is removable. The security agent glanced at me, then peered at the pin while shaking his head. “No weapons,” he said.
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Speaking in San Diego at the Gemological Institute of America’s fourth International Symposium, 2006. Given the nature of the event, I chose a particularly dramatic pin.
Dragon and sword, designer unknown.
Sea horse, Swarovski;
two colorful fish, Swarovski;
two colorful fish, Swarovski;
rainbow fish, Swarovski;
sea creature, Cécile et Jeanne;
coral reef, designer unknown;
sand dollar, designer unknown;
lobster, Landau;
crayfish, designer unknown;
starfish, José & María Barrera;
sea sponge, R. DeRosa;
sea anemone, Ann Hand;
octopus on coral, Kenneth Jay Lane;
chambered nautilus, designer unknown.
PHOTOGRAPHER CREDIT UNKNOWN
Processing to Palm Sunday services in Tobago, April 1998. I didn’t have a donkey or burro pin for the occasion, so I wore my circular horse.
I used to think rings were not worth buying because people have only ten fingers; I have to admit now to possessing more pins than any human could reasonably have occasion to wear. Of these, I bought many, but a goodly number more were gifts. Like the emperors of old India, I have become a collector and hoarder; still, most of my pins remain of the costume variety, hardly suitable for a royal procession. As is typical with a collector, I am attracted both to similarity and to diversity. It is always interesting to find a piece that is different from any other but also fun adding to categories I already have.