Charm Bracelets
 

Who wears one? What kind?

I'm thinking about getting one for my birthday, but I'm wondering if they are "age appropiate". I usually see really young people or really old people wear them. I'm starting to see a few my age wearing them, but they are the italian style charms, which I think are too small to be seen.

I have 3 charm bracelets, one that my dad got me in San Fran (that is now too small, I think) and two that have charms that I've added over the years. I don't wear bracelets in general a lot at work because I'm always mousing.

This is kind of a snobby thing to say, but I like mine because each charm has a meaning. To me that's what has always been the point of charm bracelets - that they remind you of special events. I don't know that I would care for one that I just bought and bought a bunch of charms on at the same time. But that might just be a family thing....**shrug**

No I don't think that it is a family thing. I have two charm bracelets. They are both made by James Avery. One is almost 20 years old and has been worn alot! It has charms from the camp I have attended. My second has charms from high school, college, sorority, and more camp charms. I still wear it today and I am close to 30. Many of the charms have been gifts, but I have purchased a few to put on there. At camp, they are kind of like medels of honor!

I see "premade" charm bracelets in stores and think that they are kind of strange. I know how much each charm means to me and how much fun it has been over the years to add on charms.

Exactly. I wouldn't wear a charm bracelet that was "pre-made." To me, the fun is in collecting the charms, and being able to share the stories behind them when people ask you what they're about.

My 10 year old daughter loved going through my charm bracelet and having me tell her the meaning of each charm. Last Christmas I got her one of her own. I put a few charms on there to get her started, but they all related to things she has done (Sears tower for a trip to Chicago with her Brownie troop, etc). She loves it! I think they might be making a come back.

Dee

I have (well, had -- I really haven't worn it in years) one of those necklaces that had the hoop on it where you would hang charms. I loved it. I think those are coming back as well.

Oh! I love my charm bracelet. I like to collect charms from places that I visit. My favorite charm is a tiny silver Cinderella's Castle. It's fun, and people always know what to get me for gifts:)

I don't have a charm bracelet, but my mother does as do her friends. All of the charms have special meanings behind them. It's like her life history in jewelry. :)

I have an add-a-bead necklace. I am waiting for that to become fashionable again. I'm not holding my breath. *shrug*

I love James Avery!


I agree that charm bracelets should be a work in progress so that every charm is special to you and they are not bought all at once. My mom has my grandmother's charm bracelet and when I was a little girl I used to love to have her tell me about each charm. I got one when I was 12 or so and have added to it over the years. It is a gold bracelet but some charms I would get (especially from other people) would be silver so I have both silver and gold charms on it. I definitely think I will get my daughter (if I have one) a bracelet when she's young and then add to it as she grows up and goes places and does things.

I am not sure about the "age appropriateness" though. I hardly ever wear mine because a) it's kind loud when it brushes up against something and because I feel like it is something for young girls or older women.

I think i'm going to go w/ the new italian charm bracelets. They seem the most "age appropiate" and I looked in stores and on the internet......there are THOUSANDS of charms, everything from a bud light bottle to a bmw, lol. I'm looking for something to wear that reflects my interests/hobbies more than something sentimental, I should've mentioned that in my OP.

Don't you feel like you're 5 when you wear charm bracelets?

-Rudey

My mother-in-law gave me one of those add-a-link charm bracelets from Kohl's. She also gave me a few charms to go with it: a coast guard one because Mr. SSS was in the coast guard, a cat because I have a cat, a purple butterfly because the butterfly is my chapter's local symbol... and then there are a few that don't mean anything like a heart, flip-flops, and a pizza. It's cute, and I wear it occasionally... it doesn't really look inappropriate for my age either.

I have and wear 2.

I have an Itialian Charm Bracelet which I love. It actually is Delta Zeta based (my mom bought it for me with the DZ and a turtle already on it and along the way, my lil, adopted big and closest pledge sister have all contributed to it, along with my best friend)

Then, I have a traditional charm bracelet that my grandmother got for her 16th birthday, she added charms from when she was in the army and stationed in the South Pacific in WWI, then she gave it to my mother for her 16th birthday, my mom had added to it, and for my 16th birthday, my mom gave it to me, and I have also added to it.

I didn't wear my grandmother's bracelt from the time I was 13 til I was about 19 because I thought it was too childish.. but then my mom told me about the charms that her and my grandmother had put on it (the stories) and I decided to wear it again, especially since my grandmother passed away when I was 3, so basically the bracelet is the only memory of her that I have. Plus, people always ask about the extremely different charms that I have.

I say, if you like it, wear it.. who cares what other people think!

:)

I received a charm bracelet with a "99" charm when I graduated from high school. I never bought any other charms for it because I always have something on my wrists (my watch and medic alert bracelet). I recently bought an italian charm bracelet because I don't like having things dangling from my wrist. It only has 3 charms so far. Next week when I am in Oahu, I am hoping the flea market will have lots of charms for cheap. I can get them on Ebay, but shipping usually makes them a lot more expensive. And prices at Hallmark are insane.

"new"? Haven't those been around for like 3 years?

I say rock the original. You can't go wrong.

I wear mine all the time now, but didn't so much in college or grad school, even though that's when I accumulated about half of the charms on it. I see a lot of women of all ages wearing them, including plenty in my age range (which is late 30s, so I hope that doesn't put me in Dionysus' "really old people" category ). I live in the South, though, so I think it's just a traditional thing in this area. Mine is gold, but I have a lot of silver charms that are just floating around in a jewelry box, so I should probably start a silver one too.

The Italian charm bracelets seem too trendy (even if they have been around for three years or so) - kind of like the charm holder necklaces from the early 80s, which I guess are making a comeback. The regular charm bracelets just seem timeless.

The charm holder necklaces were also big in the early and mid 90's as well (that's when I had mine). So maybe every 10 years or so they'll make a comeback.

www.somethingsocharming.com has Italian charms for fairly cheap. The ones at Kohl's are inexpensive too.

I have an older Kappa one I bought on eBay because it also had an ATO laveilere on it (Mr. ISUKappa is a Tau). I've added a few to it and enjoy wearing it for alumnae or chapter events.

I had one of those too... I got it as a gift from my parents when I was a little girl. I used to look for a charm to add to it whenever we went on vacation. Haven't worn it since I was about 8, though... I think it's still at my parents' house. Maybe I should scare it up :)

I have a unicorn charm holder. Maybe I should wear it to my alumnae chapter meeting.

I have two charm bracelets. One is a Disney one with Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White on it. The other I just started this year. So far it has my lavalier and the lavalier my husband gave to me in college, the 611 locomotive b/c Mr. PinkRose works for the railroad and the Dr. Pepper sign that is a local landmark here in Roanoke b/c DP is my addiction and I'm not a happy person with out it.

Here's a like to the site where they have the charms - Roanoke Charms

PinkRose, those charms are so neat. My great aunt and uncle lived in Roanoke for about 30 years before moving to Wrightsville Beach, NC. My uncle also worked for the railroad. I used to go visit them and go down to the City Market, Mill Mountain Theatre and to see the Star. I remember thinking it was the coolest thing. I think I may try to order one of those for my bracelet. Do you know approximately how much they cost?

I ADORE charm bracelets (the ones with dangling charms). I have two SS ones. One consist of butterfly charms and the other consist of "girlie" charms such as a purse, shoes, lipstick, etc.