How To Curate A Charm Collection
Collecting charms to suit your style and mood is one of the most precious ways to personalize your fine-jewelry collection. CHARLIE BOYD speaks to expert tastemakers to find out how to compile the perfect edit
There is a thriving celebrity cohort that allow charms to subtly tell their stories – Blake Lively, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rita Ora all regularly wear collections of personalized charms, while Rihanna was famously given a charm bracelet by A$AP Rocky that hinted at the due date of their first baby: a tulip charm represented new life, a mermaid stood for fertility, and an emerald locket – May’s birthstone – gave the timeline away.
“Charms are easily the most addictive pieces of jewelry,” says Valeria Johnson, an avid collector whose Instagram feed, @lelaleagems, features a cornucopia of charms, beads and pendants. “They are the most wonderful expressions of love and can signify so much, whether it’s a birthstone, an astrological sign, a personal symbol or talismanic number.”
Styling up a chic edit of charms can, however, feel a little daunting if the collector’s instinct doesn’t come naturally, and it’s something you can’t authentically achieve overnight. “Scouring and building a charm collection is a lifelong journey,” says Jennifer Koche, founder of New York-based jewelry brand Storrow, whose charms are all inspired by original antiques. “I've always loved charms. One of my favorites is a gold tooth my dad made in dental school and gave to my mother, which she then gave to me,” she recalls. The beauty of Storrow’s designs is that there are endless ways to mix and match, with a huge array of precious gems, gold and enamel. “The charms can be easily removed and added to existing charm necklaces to build on what you already own and allow them to be collected over time,” explains Koche.
The ability to switch up a stack explains the overwhelming appeal of charm bracelets and necklaces; they can be curated to reflect our every whim. “The charms I favor are the ones that come with a clasp that allows you to hook them onto virtually any chain,” says Geraldine Hu, a jewelry collector whose charm collection totals hundreds of pieces. “The ‘buildability’ of charms to chart my past, present and future is what’s most appealing about them to me; it’s akin to a diary – each new charm is a new entry,” she explains. Hu’s collection is wild and unbridled; from pizza, cheeseburgers and bottles of beer to her ethereal mermaid-themed pieces, along with countless evil-eye amulets; her treasure trove is a living memoir. “Each charm I own represents a moment in time, a milestone, a memory, a belief, a talisman, a superstition or an aspiration. Some charms represent my interests, some my identity, some are souvenirs of places I have visited, and some are simply beautifully crafted pieces of miniature engineering,” she explains.
When it comes to the chic and cohesive styling of such a large collection, Hu excels. “I like to tell a story with my neck stacks. For example, I was recently in Greece, and the dominant colors for my travel wardrobe were blue and white, and the symbols that represent Greece to me are evil eyes, objects of Greek mythology and even the food I ate on the trip,” she explains. “I gathered charms in each of these categories and strung the look together with hues from the Greek landscape. It’s just like creating holiday memories with photographs, except I create mine with jewels,” she quips.
Danielle Miele, the expert jewelry blogger, gemologist and collector behind @gemgossip, similarly groups her charms to convey a narrative that suits her mood on any given day. “I love a good theme, especially when it comes to charms – so whether that is a color theme done with gemstones or enamel, maybe a common shape (I have a lot of circular medallions), there are so many possibilities,” says Miele, who remembers saving her money to buy a gold seahorse charm in middle school by babysitting the children in her neighborhood. “Some of my favorite charms are from my grandparents – whenever they went home to visit Italy, they would bring back a gold piece of jewelry for each grandchild. One time, it was a gold key charm that now resides on my charm necklace that boasts 23 gold keys,” she enthuses.
Despite the innate creativity that charms conjure up, there are some practical aspects to keep in mind when curating your collection. “It’s advisable to have charm clusters sit at different heights so they don’t rub together, and it’s best to leave space between them so they can move freely without scratching one another,” says Koche. “I sometimes use oversized beads as spacers between each charm, so they fall nicely together, allowing each piece to stand out,” adds Hu. Johnson uses charm connectors and clasps to attach her charms on different lengths of chains, or she adds beads to avoid any unpleasant tangles, while Miele advises choosing your materials wisely for an everyday-wear design.
When it comes to taking care of a charm collection, try to choose ones that will suit your lifestyle. “I built my charm bracelet and charm necklace with one thing in mind – to be able to throw them into an ultrasonic cleaner and not have to worry. Every charm on these is strictly gold – no gemstones or enamel – so they can be worn often, and I’m not worrying about chipping stones,” explains Miele. Her most precious pieces? Perhaps the ultimate in personalization: “My engraved charms hold a special place above others for me. There’s something so sweet and sentimental about a name or word beautifully penned onto a piece of gold.”