Glittering Legacy Beyond Jewels

Candy Dizon’s recollections about her mother give an intimate view of the woman whose name was synonymous with fine joallerie.

 

God took her away too early. There was still so much I wanted to learn from her, and I am sure there was still so much she wanted to do. But what Jul B. Dizon wanted, she got.

By the age of 35, mom already had five children. It would have been six if one of her daughters, Joan, did not pass away due to bone cancer at the young age of 12. I was six when this happened. I clearly remember my ate's last day on earth. She was on my mom and dad’s bed, and the house was filled with so many family members who came to say goodbye. I was by her side and heard my mom ask, “If you are to be reincarnated, what would you like to be?” Joan said, “A boy.”

After this, my mom told my other sister, Janina, and me to go to the altar and pray. It was her way of shielding us from having to see my sister draw her last breath. My older brothers, Chad and Cedric, remained by her side. A year after her death, on Christmas Day of 1978, my youngest brother Christ offer Jonathan was born.

It was also this year when my mom wanted a shop bearing her own name. She was after all, trained by her mother, Paz G. Bañas, since she was 12 years old. Opening her own shop was a way of moving on and fulfilling her dream of making a mark in the jewelry industry.