I travel between Miami, Nassau and Haiti constantly, and I have made every packing mistake there is. I have lost a good earring in the sea. I have arrived somewhere with a tangle of chains in a ziplock bag. I have brought the expensive thing and then spent the week too nervous to wear it.
Here is what I actually pack now.
The rule: bring less, and bring things you can swim in
The mistake is packing for the photos and then not wearing any of it because you are worried about losing it in the water. The better approach is a small set of pieces you never take off, plus one thing for dinner.
That means waterproof jewelry does most of the work. If you can shower in it, swim in it and sleep in it, you never have to make a decision or find somewhere safe to put it.
The list
One choker you never remove
A gold bead choker sits high on the collarbone, works with a swimsuit and works with a dress, and takes salt water without complaint. This is the piece that ends up in every photo from the trip. Mine does not come off from the moment I leave the house.
Two or three stacking bracelets
Island stones — malachite, turquoise, tiger's eye, onyx — on elastic or adjustable cord. They layer, they survive the beach, and losing one is not a crisis. Stack them and forget about them.
Small hoops or studs, not statement earrings
The single most losable item is a drop earring in the ocean. Bring small hoops or studs for daytime and keep one better pair in the bag for dinner. Pearl studs go with everything and read as dressed-up without effort.
An anklet
Underrated on a beach trip and almost impossible to lose if it fits properly. A fine gold or pearl anklet is the most island thing you can wear and it costs you nothing in luggage space.
One charm that means something
If you are going home — to Haiti, Jamaica, the DR, the Bahamas, Trinidad — wear the charm for it. People notice. Conversations start. It is the whole reason I make them.
One thing for dinner
A single considered piece. A pearl necklace, or something from the solid gold collection if you are comfortable travelling with it. One piece, not five — you are on holiday, not at an event.
A silk scarf
The most useful thing in the bag and the least obvious. It is a headwrap on a boat, a bag tie, a cover-up over a swimsuit, and something around your shoulders when a restaurant runs the air conditioning too cold. It weighs nothing. Six ways to tie one here.
What to leave at home
- Anything gold plated and cheap. Salt and sand will strip it in a week and you will come home with a green mark. Here is what actually happens to gold in salt water.
- Heirlooms. Hotel safes get opened. Beaches have no lost and found. If it cannot be replaced, it stays home.
- Rings you wear loosely. Cold water shrinks fingers. Rings come off in the sea and never come back.
- The full jewelry roll. You will wear a quarter of it.
How to pack it
Thread each chain through a drinking straw before you fold it and it cannot tangle. Put studs through a small square of felt. Keep everything in one pouch in your carry-on, never in checked luggage.
The point of all this
Island dressing is not about having more. It is about a few pieces that go everywhere with you, that you never have to protect, and that mean something. That is what we make.
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