Charms have been symbols for thoughts, ideas and events for a very long time. All those lovely charms from ancient Egypt may have been symbolic of power, the gods, religion – I don’t think anyone knows for sure, and it’s fun to look at them and wonder.
The modern popularity of the charm bracelet exploded during the Victorian era when the Queen wore her version with little photo lockets as charms. It was a sentimental era, the perfect time for sterling silver charm popularity to flourish.
I remember wonderful charms in sterling silver from my childhood; that post WWII era, when little keepsakes from abroad trickled into our midst, and all my friends and I wore our delicate feminine bracelets and charms. I imagine many of them were made in Japan, although I don’t know for sure. When I was a girl, a lot of trinkets were.
Now that I create my own charms, I focus mostly on animals since they have always been a passion of mine.
The endearing fat sterling silver cat charm is one that appeals to me. I guess the expression reminds me of Molly, a particular fat cat that shared her home with us for many years.
One of the more universal animal lover’s charms is the sterling silver paw print charm. It was designed to represent either feline or canine, and is perfect for the lover of either.
A charm that I designed several years ago and still tickles me is the cute sterling guinea pig charm. There’s something about that little rodent that is almost unbearably cute, and I’m told this one represents it well. By the way, I also have this in the gold version.
A 7.5” charm bracelet is the one I recommend for most people. I do carry one a bit longer as well.
But on that one charm bracelet you can put a lot of charms. An animal lover’s bracelet might include a silver elephant charm, a chinchilla sterling silver charm, a bunny silver charm and a monkey sterling charm! Really, you can fit over 20 charms on one bracelet, and they sound so pretty when they dangle and knock against each other.
One of my newest charms isn’t an animal at all! I decided to create a heart charm with a rose in silver; I must have been feeling a little romantic that day. This would be a lovely Valentine’s Day gift for a special lady.
Charm bracelets let you be inventive- some of my customers own more than one bracelet so they can have lots and lots of charms. I can’t argue with that line of logic!