Real stories · The necklace my grandson actually wears

Buying for a fifteen-year-old is impossible — then I found the necklace with the Latin

A present that made a fifteen-year-old look up from his phone — that's what this little necklace managed, and any grandmother will understand what a miracle that is. My grandson Ollie is at that age where everything I buy him is 'fine, thanks, Nan' — which, translated, means it goes in a drawer by Boxing Day. Vouchers felt like giving up. So last year I gave up differently: I asked his mother what the boys at school actually wear. Necklaces, apparently. Who knew.

But the ones I found online were either flimsy or frightening.

Then I found the Mortessa from a British label called York Boutique — a solid, nicely weighted skull pendant on a sturdy chain, with words engraved right across it: 'MEMENTO MORI · CARPE DIEM'. Remember you must die; seize the day. Dramatic, yes. But it's the old kind of dramatic — the kind you find on Roman coins and in poetry lessons — not the throwaway kind.

And that's precisely why it landed. It looks bold enough for a teenager to think it's cool, while the Latin gives it an actual meaning he can tell his friends about — which is why it hasn't gone in the drawer. His mother reports it goes on every morning, with the school uniform, tucked under the collar where the teachers can't object.

A bold pendant with real words on it — 'seize the day' — which is why a boy who shrugs at everything wears this one daily.

It was £19.95 in the sale — less than half the usual £45 — which for a present that actually gets worn is the bargain of the year in this family. I did check before ordering that I could send it back if he pulled the 'fine, thanks' face — you can, within a fortnight, and the delivery's free — but it never came to that.

What came instead was a text. An actual, unprompted text: 'nan the necklace is sick'. I had to ask his mother whether that was good. It is, apparently. It's very good.

If there's a teenager in your life who's impossible to buy for, do have a look — and with the gift season coming, I'd not wait. The Mortessa is rated 4.6 out of 5 by more than 190 customers — and at less than half price, it rather takes the risk out of trying.