WHY CHARMS ARE ARE ON JEWERLY! THE UNIQUENESS
There is no other piece of jewelry that acts as a time post and chronicles a woman’s life like a charm bracelet or necklace. These tokens of treasured moments, added with souvenirs and keepsakes of new encounters, achievements, romances, humorous events, and significant occasions all recall and reveal the passage of time and the journey that the woman who wears her charms has taken so far. Charm bracelets also reflect a woman’s dreams, hopes, superstitions, goals and will eventually link together and tell more of her tale as she continues to grow and experience life.
When I talk to women friends whose careers range from jewelry designers to lawyers to architects, they recall memories of their mother’s charm bracelet clanging and jangling, while cooking in the kitchen or going out for a night on the town. They talk about playing with their grandmother’s charm bracelet and how they listened intently to what each charm signified. In the U.S., many of us were raised wanting to feel that familiarity and comfort and bring back the memories to our own wrists. Some of us were lucky enough to be handed down the charm bracelets as heirlooms or to get a special gift of just one charm that we loved from generations before us.
These are pieces we collect, that reflect who we are, what we are doing and how we are feeling at different times in our life, much like journaling or creating a memoir out of pieces that link the past to our present and future.
CHARM ME: THE INVENTION OF CHARM BRACELETS
Let’s go back in time to when charms were first recognized as pieces of jewelry by the Egyptian Pharaohs. It has been reported that prehistoric civilizations wore some sort of shell, teeth or other natural element to keep bad spirits away. But as far as an actual piece of jewelry goes, what we know as amulets and talisman, made out of rocks, wood and gems and were worn as bracelets or necklaces as protective shields to ward off evil. During this time they were forms of identification and due to the shorter lifespan and the beliefs of the day, charms also served to identify people to the gods in the afterlife.
Charms slightly transformed in Roman times to represent religious and spiritual believers.
“During the Roman empire charms became a way of secretly conveying a common bond such as religion or culture,” explains Alice Kwartler of of Alice Kwartler Antiques (alicekwartler.com) who specializes in charms as well as signed jewelry. “Christians wore fish underneath their garments to be able to have entry in to worshiping with other Christians. Jews wore passages from law in a gold charm to keep their faith close to their hearts.” She adds.
Later in history, different cultures viewed them as protective: knights and then soldiers guarded themselves with charms to keep them safe in battle.
It is interesting to note that during the Renaissance, charms lost their charm among the wealthy classes who began to read books that were being mass produced which lessened the superstitions of the day; however, it was believed Catherine de' Medici Queen of France, from 1547 until 1559 wore a charm bracelet that supposedly possessed occult powers.
Whether known as amulets, talisman or charms, there was definitely enough interest and intrigue to continue to believe in their powers and also to keep their popularity alive.
CHARMED AND MORE
When it comes to different styles which influenced charms, the 18th and 19th century’s women’s chatelaines (which were worn pinned to the waist) with chains dangling with essentials such as small sewing items and magnifying glasses also held decorative charms and were designed predominantly in sterling silver charms. They were known as the predecessors of charm bracelets. Men’s watch chains, which were worn on waistcoats to carry time pieces also dangled with types of charms. These were predominantly intaglio fobs with family crests. One of their early uses of these fobs were to sign documents. Eventually they were designed to show a person’s hobby or profession or were created with mottoes and motifs in English or French and bespoke a language of love, freedom and overcoming obstacles in a poetic way. If we fast forward to the 1930s and 40s, one of the most influential fashion designers of the time, Elsa Schiaparelli wore her grandfather’s watch chain filled with antique fobs and intaglios. It was one of her signature pieces.
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