A friend’s daughter is turning 15 in a few weeks. As they’re of Hispanic descent, it’s a pretty big deal (though it doesn’t sound like they’re having a particularly huge party).
Anyway - we want to get her something for her birthday. The Wikipedia page suggests something religious in nature but I don’t know if that’s necessarily appropriate coming from us.
Would a standard piece of jewelry (say, pearl earrings or a gold chain) be appropriate? Any other suggestions?
Jewelry would be by suggestion. I wouldn’t go the religious route if you aren’t religious. Whats the point? I’m sure the birthday girl doesn’t want a lot of religious paraphernalia either. I don’t see a lot 15-year-old girls wearing pearl earrings, but they are a classic gift. Maybe something like a silver bangle or charm engraved with her name and perhaps the date of her quinceanera on the back? You can try a store called Things Remembered for stuff like that. It seems like there is one in every mall in America.
It really depends.
My step-sister had a quinceañera and it was just a big party with presents. No mass, no padrinos, no chambelones, certainly no 14 not quite bridesmaids(can’t remember what they’re called)–it was all about the party and the presents, pretty much like her first wedding was (although her second and third weddings were practically secret, so apparently, give a girl a quinceañera and you eliminate the “wedding I should have had” syndrome).
So, are they having a mass and doing this traditionally, or what? If there’s no mass, just give an Amazon giftcard or whatever. Since you’re asking the question, it kind of begs that answer anyway.
Finally popping back in to say thanks for the comments!
The family is (I believe) Catholic, but to the best of my knowledge they aren’t having the big religious party.
I’m leaning - right now - toward getting her an emerald pendant of some sort, simply because emerald is her birthstone and we could get a simple, timeless sort of thing. Emeralds aren’t too hideously expensive, especially a smaller one (I’ll have to do my research to see if a created one would look OK - supposedly they’re virtually identical to natural ones). Pearls are obviously a classic gift but maybe a teenager would prefer an emerald.
We could always do cash / gift card, though I sort of like the idea of picking out something specifically for her.
Fortunately the birthday is a month away, so I have a little time to think about it.
The emerald pendant sounds fine. Nothing wrong with gift cards, but it’s a lovely gift for A Young Lady.
Eh… just because they’re of Hispanic descent and the girl is turning 15, doesn’t mean they’re doing the whole quinceañera elaborate festivity.
That said, an emerald pendant is a classy gift for a young lady, and one she will (or should) appreciate.
Well, that would be quite an ASSumption on my part 
but from a conversation with the mother, the gist I got was the daughter explicitly said she didn’t expect a big party because she knew money was tight, but that mom regretted that and wanted to do a big event if they could have afforded it. So, in this case I want to give a gift similar to what I’d do if there were a big party (we’re also fairly close to this young lady, she’s almost exactly Dweezil’s age and the two have grown up together).
Heh, OK. 
Props on the young lady, too… either she wants it but knows the economy is not good for it, or would really hate to have one thrown for her but is clever enough to have found a great excuse. 