Charm jewelery has a place in history and has evolved with time. Historically, charm jewelery, made with twigs, bones items made with clay and shells were adorned by cave men with a belief that this will ward off evil spirits. Charm jewelery was also used to show affiliation to a particular tribe, marital status, to bring in prosperity, show power and various such other reasons.
With time, the twigs and bones gave way to precious metals, glass beads, birth stones and the like. The reason of wearing these also moved from warding off evil to being fashionable and looking good. The modern form of wearing pendants in the chain at the neck is also a sort of charm jewelery. It is common to gift charm jewelery to commemorate special events such as anniversaries or birthdays etc. Different motifs of charm jewelery signify different emotions and the wearer can create a unique style statement by wearing these.
Charms are also popular in India since ancient times. These were worn to ward off evil eye and bad luck and till date mothers make their kids wear charms around their waist tied in a black thread to protect them.
Kinds of Charm jewelery
A charm is a small ornament usually dangling from a chain. Charms could be attached onto an existing base metal with the help of a small clasp; or you could have charms attached by applying heat or sometimes, a series of similar charms could be interlocked with each other to form a continuous chain of similar looking motifs.
You could have charm jewelery as a neck lace, a bracelet, an anklet, an armlet or as a simple pendant. Normally there are a few motifs/ themes which are very popular.
Base material of the jewelery
Charm jewelery could be in precious metals such as platinum and gold or even in sterling silver or plated gold. Charm jewellery for the younger generation could also be in cheaper alternatives such as leather and fabric base.
The charms or the trinkets themselves, could be made of the same metal as the base and sometimes, they could be made of glass beads and may use precious and semi precious stones.
Popular themes used in charm jewelery
Alphabetical and Numerical Charms
- Initials of your name, your entire name or your lucky number, birth date, on turning 16 or 18, are also quite popular charms to wear. The name could be inscribed on a medallion, which could be worn around your neck or you could have separate alphabets stringed together to form a bracelet.
Animal Charms
- If you love your pet, or feel strongly about penguins, reptiles or an endangered species, you could now show your support, love and affection by wearing it as a charm. Interlinked charms depicting rabbits, penguins and lizards make quite a style statement for the wearer.
Evil Eye Charms
- This charm find root in the ancient belief that if somebody wishes ill for you, it could be warded off by wearing the evil eye charm.
Floral Charms
- Small symbols of flowers, petals and leaves in single or multi-color signify happiness and an appreciation of beauty and color. You could gift this to your best friend for remembering the fun time you spent together, on an out station picnic. Sometimes floral patterns could also be adorned with the birth stone of the wearer to add some color and bring the wearer luck. A dash of a favorite color to one of the charms is also a good way to personalize a floral gift.
Fun Charms
- Fun charms such as flip flops, shell or sun hat are perfect to be worn to a beach. Star, moon and sun charms, butterflies, tennis racket, hourglass, feather etc. are also charms that you could wear to a casual outing with your friends and create a style statement of your own.
Love Charms
- Hearts, cherubs, delicate lock and key set, love and arrows all are symbolic of the eternal favourite emotion – love and romance. A very popular gift on Valentine’s Day and other such romantic occasions.
Nautical Charms
- Having charms depicting sailboats, anchors, compass and ship wheels look chic and are quite popular to be worn by marines.
Religious
- Having charms depicting the Holy Cross, mother Mary, Hindu Gods, the praying angel, the meditating Buddha, hope and peace all tend to reinforce your belief in God and are quiet popular. Religious charms are especially popular to be gifted to newly born.
Sea life and shell charms
- If you are a sea person, what better to show than to wear trinkets with dolphins, shells, starfish, crabs, sea horse etc. These look super cool when worn with matching apparel.
Talking and saying charms
- Talking and saying charms are those which show attitude of the wearer. Common examples are charms reading – ‘sweet and sexy’, ‘100percent brat’ etc.
Zodiac
- Donning charms which have your zodiac symbol is also very popular. These make an excellent gift to your school going children.
Charm jewelery is a timeless piece of jewelery and is increasingly becoming popular with some of the top designers including these in their collection. The best part of charm jewelery is that you could make new statements every single day by removing the old charms and adding on a few new ones! Gifting these to your loved and special ones and is a perfect way to show you care and the receiver can be overwhelmed by the effort taken by you to personalize the gift. From the choice available in the market, this definitely does not look like a tough task.
