Margaret Ellis | Can’t Buy Me Love

Love is an intangible. Often characterized as a gentle, soft emotion, it is strong enough to break the most sturdy of hearts. It is, nonetheless, invisible.

Perhaps this is why we turn to tokens and trinkets to celebrate matters of the heart. Lockets, wedding rings, charm bracelets each have a story to tell. They remind us that we are loved.

As Valentine’s Day approaches, Nashville Arts Magazine follows the work of Margaret Ellis as she crafts a special object of beauty for the holiday. The project itself is a labor of love for the magazine and the artist. For the first time, Nashville Arts will auction a work to magazine readers.

We have created a photo-journal of the birth of this little masterpiece. Ellis and her assistants, Edward Tomlin and Angela Smith, hand-constructed this necklace which combines a sterling silver and 18-karat rose-gold heart with a chain of peach-colored pearls and red ruby beads. Ellis, whose jewelry sells all over the world from New York to Japan, has been following her love of jewelry making for 32 years. Ellis enjoyed designing this statement necklace for Valentine’s Day. She says, “I wanted this piece to have a happy feeling. There is no better gift for a lover to give their beloved than a piece of jewelry. In other words, nothing says I love you like jewelry.”

All proceeds from the sale of the Valentine necklace will benefit Magdalene House, a national charity with a branch here in Nashville that helps rehabilitate women who are victims of prostitution and drug culture. Magdalene is Ellis’ favorite charity.

The Beatles song Can’t Buy Me Love seems appropriate for this venture. For romantic love, jewelry functions as a powerful symbol for something money can never buy. The lives of the women at Magdalene House prove that love is something that cannot be bought and sold. The Valentine necklace designed by Ellis provides a wonderful twist, though. Readers have the opportunity to buy an object that was hand-crafted from the heart, to demonstrate their feelings for a loved one, and give directly to a cause that helps support the Nashville community. Maybe you can’t buy love, but every little bit helps!