SIMPLY CHARMING! STERLING SILVER CHARMS
I have no idea when the very first charm was created, but I wouldn’t be surprised if jewellery makers in the times of the Great Ancient Civilizations were already delighting women with gold and sterling silver charms.
I would imagine that they had special significance to the wearer, meant to ward off evil, danger, etc. Many of the early pendants and charms were created to protect – but I think the real magic was in the artistry of the designs themselves.
Charms are for bracelets - Pendants are for necks
Today a lot of people use the words pendant and charm to mean the same thing. What I’m referring to here is a sterling silver charm worn specifically on a charm bracelet, not as a pendant around the neck.
From what I’ve come across, it seems that the charm bracelet as a fashionable piece of jewelry really became popular in the 19th century. This was apparently due to the influence of Queen Victoria. The celebrities of the time were Royalty, and what they wore inevitably became popular. Personally, I think that’s a little classier than every teenage girl emulating Paris Hilton!
Queen Victoria had some lovely charms designed that look like lockets-probably with images of family members, or maybe even special pets. I’d love to see them, and imagine they are available for viewing in a museum somewhere.
I grew up in the 1950s, just as charms were regaining popularity. It seems that our men returning from the war abroad brought little jewelry trinkets home with them, some of them sterling silver charms. They were wonderful little memorabilia of foreign lands, and the wives and daughters who received them wore them on their charm bracelets.
Once the late 60s and the 70s rolled around, I didn’t see many charms or charm bracelets. Not that I was especially involved with jewelry at that point, but I think I would’ve noticed if they’d been especially popular.
I do believe that the charm bracelet has made a comeback. I’ve seen several varieties gaining popularity, and I think that’s wonderful.
Today's Charm Collector Can Find Sterling Silver Charms of a Favorite Pet
You know what I love about charms? They are symbols of something larger, and the owner of a charm can give them whatever meaning she wants. Just as Queen Victoria wore her charm bracelets with images of loved ones, today’s charm collector can find sterling silver charms of a favorite pet or animal.
My lovely Grandmother Eva Whitaker wore a gold charm bracelet with little heart charms, each one with the engraved name and birth date of a grand child. That bracelet was one of her dearest possessions, and she wore it constantly. I remember her proudly displaying each new charm every time a new Whitaker showed up on the planet! To this day I’m not sure who gave her the charms. Perhaps her six children created the tradition to give “Mom” a charm whenever they had a new son or daughter. I think that is such a lovely idea!
A charm bracelet full of silver charms makes a delicate bell-like sound as the charms gently knock against each other. That may be my favorite part of all. (Before I was a jewelry artist I was a musician, and sound really influences me, for better and worse! I think I suffer more than most people when I hear a sour note or that loud and obnoxious radio music blasting from a car.)
I make lots of fun sterling silver charms- most of them are of animals and pets, but I recently added some dental themed charms to the Magic Zoo Menagerie. I mention that because I can no longer say that I only make sterling silver animal charms- I’m expanding my horizons.
