I spoke at length to the Cuban gentleman who has a similar pendant
and some beautiful family lore that goes with it. He wishes to keep
his identity private, but is very eager to be helpful in solving the
mystery.
The text of his two e-mails that he sent on the weekend follows, as
well as a photo of his piece. He says that his piece is a copy of the
original family heirloom that was either made for his grandparents or
great-grandparents.
1st e-mail Saturday June 8, 2013:
I hope I may be able to provide you with that may lead
to identifying the owner of the pendant, you're seeking to locate. At
the very least, I trust I may be able to help fill in a few more
pieces of the puzzle??
Some 40 years ago, as a young teen, my mother one day presented me
with a very special pendant (please see attached photos). It had been
given to her by my father, on the evening which they formally
announced their engagement; that was in Cuba, at a party hosted by my
great-grandmother in 1945. As the story goes, circa 1900 (on a
similar evening and occasion),the pendant was presented by my
paternal grandfather to my grandmother, and so on and so forth
leading back several generations of my father's family. I believe the
one given to me by my mother was a replica of the original, first
gifted a few centuries ago by one of my ancestors to his soon-to-be
bride.
The pendant found by Mr. Rubinstein, which is pictured alongside Ms.
Brecher's article in this morning's The Miami Herald is missing a
section which should contains the letter "E". You see, the pendant is
composed in such a way as to represent two all-important virtues: God
& love. As for God virtue, that obviously is symbolized by the cross;
I well understand how the letter "M" may have been interpreted to
also have a religious versus romantic connotation?? it does not in
fact denote the Virgin Mary, but rather, together with the letters
etched in the gold work of the other outer quadrants of the cross
forms the French "en moi" (e / n / m / oi), or in English, "in me".
The love virtue represented in the pendant is a play on the words:
"Crois En Moi" (the French for "cross" in fact being "croix", but
pronounced the same), or "believe in me" -- that is, believe in God
and believe in love (or more specifically, believe in your future
betrothed).
You may well imagine my surprise when I came across Ms. Brecher's
writing, today. The only difference I see in the two pendants are the
stones which form the central cross; the one given to me -- also
gifted to the love of my life -- has a cross of emeralds versus
sapphires. I wonder if this may be either another copy or even the
original pendant, which possibly may have been in the hands of one of
my relatives. I confess I have no recollection of loosing any family
members on either ValuJet Flight 592 or Eastern Flight 401, but
perhaps if were able to review the names of the souls who perished on
those fateful flights, I may be able to identify someone who is a
relation and, hopefully, lead to finding the pendant's owner.
2nd e-mail Sunday June 9:
Thank you for your reply, as well as the interesting and
observations you share??
Havana and Paris enjoyed very close ties, especially throughout the
18th and 19th centuries; most affluent Cubans, although of Spanish
lineage, also spoke French -- in my family, learning French was
traditional and obligatory down to my own generation. I also know
that my great-grandparents often visited Paris in the mid to late
19th century, and my father's mother also studied there, before the
first World War.
It's possible that the piece was acquired by one of them, while
visiting France; and, the tradition of presenting it to a future
bride may in fact have begun only a few generations ago; I only know
of it because of my mother's telling versus it being a popular family
lore?? I frankly had no idea another pendant like this existed, but
as I speculated in my previous writing, there's no reason not to
think more than one copy would have been made, and handed down within
the family. My father's family was established in Cuba in the 16th
century, and enjoyed a privileged position in that country until the
Castro revolution, so the origins of the piece may in fact be in
accordance with my mother's story, and indeed date back a good number
of years.
As requested I attach a few additional photos, which I hope may be
useful to you in determining how the pendant was crafted. The piece
is 2.2 centimeters in diameter, and although I've never had the gold
tested, it would appear to be between 18 and 22 karat. When I
received it from my mother it had only one clasp (I believe she wore
it as an amulet on a bracelet), and since then a second clasp has
been added to better accommodate its use as a necklace.
Stephen Walker
WalkerMetalsmiths.com
