"The One for You, the One You Give Away" — Jarah (67), on the One Necklace She's Never, in 43 Years, Sold on Its Own
For over four decades, a small boutique in South Yarra has sold thousands of these little sapphire-hearted trees — and not once sold just one. This is the quiet reason why. And why the very last of them are leaving, two at a time.
South Yarra, Melbourne. On the counter of Jarah Melbourne sits a small velvet tray, and on it, a scatter of little golden and silver trees — each one no bigger than a thumbnail, each with a single blue sapphire set down low, where the roots would be. When the afternoon light comes through the shop window, the stones catch it all at once. "People always reach for one," Jarah says, watching a customer do exactly that. "And I always, always ask them the same question: who's the second one for?"
The Day I Started Making Them in Twos
She didn't set out to sell a necklace this way. Forty-three years ago, when Jarah opened her doors on Chapel Street, the little tree was just one piece among many. What changed it was her own daughter. "She was twenty-four, and she was moving to the other side of the world," Jarah remembers. "London. I was so proud, and I was so frightened, all at the same time — that feeling when a person who is part of you is suddenly going to live thousands of kilometres away."
The night before the flight, Jarah took two of the little trees from the shop. She kept one. The other she pressed into her daughter's hand at the airport gate. "As long as we're both wearing the same tree," she told her, "we're never really apart." "After that," she says, "I couldn't sell them any other way. A tree is about the people you're rooted to. It was never meant to stand alone."
Why a Tree Was Never Meant to Stand Alone
Look closely and the design tells you what it means. Branches that spread out — for everywhere life takes the people you love. And down at the base, sitting in the roots, that one small sapphire. "The stone is the part both necklaces share," Jarah explains. "One tree for you, one for the person you carry with you. The same blue heart in each. That's the whole idea." Blue sapphire has long been the stone of loyalty and constancy — the thing you promise stays. It's why it sits in the roots and not the branches. The branches are where life scatters everyone. The root is what holds.
What Makes This Necklace So Special
- A sapphire set in the roots: the single blue stone shared between the pair — the same heart in the one you keep and the one you give.
- The Tree of Life: branches for the distance, roots for the bond — a meaning anyone you love understands the moment they open the box.
- Never sold as one: every order is a matched pair. One to keep, one to give to the person you'd root yourself to.
- Silver or gold, made to be worn every day: a warm finish that doesn't fade with wear, on a delicate chain light enough to forget you have it on.
- One size, made for anyone: an adjustable chain that sits right on every neck — which is why it makes such an easy gift, at any age.
The Notes She's Kept
Jarah keeps a small box behind the counter, full of cards customers have sent over the years. She pulls one out, postmarked from Perth.
"That," Jarah says quietly, "is why I never minded that the second one goes out the door for free. It was never really about the necklace."
One for You — One for the Person You'd Root Yourself To
Ask Jarah who her customers give the second tree to, and she smiles, because it's never just one answer. "A mother and her daughter, that's the one people expect," she says. "But it's sisters. It's two friends who've known each other fifty years. It's a wife and her husband. One woman bought four — one for herself, and one each for her three girls, so they'd all be wearing the same tree at Christmas." She pauses. "I love that. A whole family, all rooted to the same little tree."
Why the Last Ones Are Leaving Now
After 43 years, Jarah Melbourne is closing its doors — the lease on the Chapel Street shop is coming to an end, and this chapter with it. "I'm not sad about it, not really," she says. "Forty-three years is a good, long run."
But it does mean the little trees won't be here again after this. "I'd rather they went out into the world in pairs — onto two people who belong together — than sit in a box. That feels like the right way to end it."
★★★★★Join 4,000+ women across Australia who are each wearing one half of a pair
What Customers Are Saying
"I bought it for my sister the day her son was born. We live in different states now but we both wear ours. It's the closest thing to holding her hand from 900km away."
Denise Farrow, 61 — Adelaide, SA"My husband isn't a jewellery man, but he hasn't taken his off. The sapphire is really quite beautiful in the light — you can tell it isn't cheap tat."
Robyn Ashby, 66 — Ballarat, VIC"Gave the second one to my best friend of 48 years. We're both in our seventies and we cried like teenagers. Worth every cent."
Margaret Nguyen, 72 — Gold Coast, QLD
Where to Find the Last Pairs
The remaining trees are on the Jarah Melbourne website while stock lasts — each one still sold the only way Jarah ever sold them: as a pair. One for you, one to give away. You can choose your finish — silver or gold — here.
These aren't the cheapest little pendants you'll find online — you can buy a gold-coloured tree for a couple of dollars if that's all you want. This isn't that. It's a proper sapphire-set piece, made to be worn every day for years and handed to someone who matters. That's what you're paying for — and it's why it comes as two.
Jarah's Personal Guarantee
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee. "If it isn't everything you hoped when it arrives, send it back and I'll refund you. I've stood behind every piece for 43 years — I'm not about to stop now."
Buy One, Get the Second Free
Two sapphire trees — one to keep, one to give away. Choose silver or gold. $99.99 the pair.
Second necklace free · Free shipping today · Only a limited number of pairs remain
The Internet Loves These Little Trees
"I gave the second tree to my daughter before she flew out to work overseas. She texted me a photo from the airport wearing it. I don't think I've ever cried so hard at a departure gate."
Susan Petrakis, 63 — Newcastle, NSW"Ordered the gold. The sapphire is tiny but it really does catch the light. My mum has the silver. We didn't plan it, but we both wear them every day now."
Helen Cartwright, 58 — Perth, WA"Bought a pair for my twin and me for our 70th. Silly at our age, maybe. But there's something about knowing she's wearing the same little tree in Queensland while I'm down here."
Coral Bennett, 70 — Geelong, VICOnly While the Last Pairs Last — Then They're Gone for Good
Once the shop closes in the coming weeks, these won't be here again. When the last pairs are gone, that's the end of the little tree — so if there's someone you'd want wearing the other half, now is the time.
Closing Thought
I came to write about a necklace. I left thinking about who I'd give the second one to. Maybe that's the whole quiet trick of Jarah's little tree — it was never really about what's around your neck. It's about who's on the other end of the same one.
— Harriet Vale, for Silver Birch Journal 🤍