One of the most personal of jewelry purchases, charm bracelets pay tribute to significant events in the life of the wearer. Rites of passage such as graduations, betrothals, births of children and special vacations are commemorated by miniature tokens.
Historical Allure
Charms have played a part in the history of mankind since the caveman first picked up unusual stones, shells or other natural objects and carried them as a talisman to ward off evil. As mankind evolved, so did the materials used to make charms, including semiprecious stones, each stone believed to be endowed with unique powers. Over the millennia, many different cultures have believed in the inherent power of charms to help them triumph over enemies, bring them prosperity and protect them from harm. Charms were used to convey rank and religion. Egyptians believed charms, worn as bracelets and on necklaces, would help guide them in the afterlife. Kings and knights of the Middle Ages wore charms not only for protection, but to convey personal and political standing.
The modern incarnation of charm bracelets as a stylish testament to significant events in one’s life didn’t really begin until the Victorian age. And it was Queen Victoria herself who helped these bracelets become a fashionable accessory. The charms she favored were tiny lockets and miniature family portraits. The nobility soon followed suit and the transition of charm bracelets into decorative jewelry began. In the twentieth century, the charm bracelet’s charm reached America through returning WW II soldiers, who brought back trinkets they found in Europe and the Pacific for their loved ones, who wore them on chains. American manufacturers turned out their versions of these charms. No longer the custom-made charms of the very wealthy, these affordable miniatures achieved mass appeal. In the 1940s, children collected and wore charms they got in gumball machines. But it was in the 1950s that the charm bracelet’spopularity reached its zenith and it became a part of every young girl’s jewelry wardrobe. On the sidelines of fashion jewelry in the 1970s and ’80s, charm bracelets moved once again into the spotlight in the 1990s, when older, mechanized charms were highly sought-after collectibles. In the next decade, newer versions of the charm bracelet turned up on many celebrities, bringing vintage charm bracelets back into vogue.
The Charm of it all
“Charm bracelets are specific memories,” says Nancy Revy, chief executive officer (CEO) of Beladora.com, an estate jewelry website. “When you look at these old charm bracelets, each charm meant something to the person who wore it and there’s something pretty awesome about that.”
According to Revy, there seems to be more interest in charms and charm bracelets of late. “I’m finding people who haven’t worn their charm bracelets for years are cleaning them up and wearing them again and coming in to buy more charms. People are contacting us for one single charm on a bracelet or they may already have the charms and are looking for a vintage bracelet to wear them on, something that has some age and some character to it.”
For many estate jewelry dealers, in fact, stocking charm bracelets is a given. “I always see good interest in charm bracelets, particularly the unusual ones,” says New York–based estate jeweler, Camilla Dietz Bergeron,“as well as charms, themselves.”
Jessica Falvo, retailer, principal of Chartreuse, New York City, says she’s “always done a bang-up business with charm bracelets. But I only do fine jewelry — so you’re talking about a significant amount of money.” She favors charm bracelets from the 1950s, or late ’40s. “I only do big charm bracelets, really heavy bracelets, usually with a single charm that’s about three inches in diameter. Those are really chic. If I find them, I can sell them in a flat second.”
Bergeron agrees that bigger is better — “big and bold and gold. We don’t really do well with dinky jewelry. We find the customer doesn’t really want that. Charm bracelets have a personality and people comment on them.” Fifties is really the era for charm bracelets, mostly gold, states Bergeron. “We do get some platinum and diamond ones that are really spectacular from the twenties, but not that often.”
Revy tends to sell the bracelets separate from the charms because “people want to buy charms that have a special meaning to them.”
Suzanne Martinez, Lang Antique & Estate Jewelry, San Francisco, California, says she stocks a lot of old charm bracelets, like the double-curb link bracelet from the 1950s. But she acknowledges, “We take the charms off a lot of them because people want to choose their own. We do occasionally have bracelets that have a theme to it — all ballerinas or little Chinese figures carved in jade,” which are kept intact. She points to a special themed silver bracelet, not for sale, that has about “a hundred charms on it and they’re all from the Southwest.” Martinez notes smaller articulated charms, with moving parts, also attract interest.
What Sells
While there are great little platinum Art Deco charm bracelets with diamonds, they are expensive, Revy says. As are some “fabulous old charms from the fifties” she stocks, because of the price of gold. She finds people don’t spend a lot of money on expensive charms. It’s more about the memory they represent, not that they’re a “show-off piece.”
Bergeron says charms that can be engraved are always desirable because people can put their own stamp on it. “Message charms are also popular,” she adds. “We buy all the cute charms that we can.” She also likes gold charms with color — “a piece of amethyst or sapphire.”
Falvo says she tends toward “the more exotic.” She notes a Cartier bracelet with giant three-dimensional gold and coral cabochon charms. “And the best charm bracelet I ever had was New York City themed. It was a $60,000 bracelet; each charm weighed more than most women’s bracelets.”
As with most jewelry, nicer charms and bracelets are harder to find, especially the larger ones, notes Bergeron. And with the price of gold so high, Martinez says, many charms are being melted. Revy says she’s able to maintain her stock of older charms “with a little more weight to them,” because she’s “been buying them for years and years.”
Who’s Buying?
“A lot of young girls are building charm bracelets,” says Bergeron, “but we sell them to all ages.” Falvo notes that while interest can be across the board, sometimes with younger customers, “it’s a pocketbook issue,” as to what they can afford to buy.
Martinez says she sees a broad range of customers for charm bracelets. “There are younger people who are starting their own bracelets. It might be a family tradition. Maybe they’ve inherited something from their mom and like the whole concept and they want to add to it or create their own or give to their daughter. Or they were gifted with charms.”
Revy says she’s had clients shopping for charm bracelets as graduation gifts. “These are wealthy people who could buy anything they want — a Tiffany pearl necklace — but instead they’re choosing to buy charms this year. There’s something in the zeitgeist about charms right now.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - September 2010. To subscribe click here.