Anyone who keeps up with trends knows that some unintentional matching, be it with friends or strangers, is all but guaranteed. But with the latest jewelry trend, the paradox seems to have broken. For once it’s possible to follow the pack while still staying totally unique. Behold: the charm necklace.
The name of the game is individuality. Charms have existed since the Neolithic Era as a means of warding off evil, and they began to map the life of the wearer during the Ancient Roman Empire. By Queen Victoria’s reign, the jewelry was completely divorced from its original context of protection. In the most recent decades, the simple Tiffany Co. charm bracelet has long dominated the conversation. But lately, a new emphasis on eclectic statement pieces is taking over—namely the more obvious necklace. As shoppers are realizing the necklaces are perfect sentimental pieces for any personal style, jewelry designers are seeing the effects of the new charm necklace obsession.
Instagram content
Susan Korn, the New York-based jewelry designer behind the label Susan Alexandra, was surprised to see charms take off when she began offering them in her store around 10 years ago. “It became a really, really popular offering right away,” she says. “It’s still the number one best seller—and it’s been several years.”
Korn was shocked that the ornaments, which she made as symbols of protection and gratitude during a rocky time in her own life, had such resonance with total strangers. “They’re very personal and nobody else in the world will have the same one as you,” she says. The persisting interest in charm jewelry is something that continues to influence Korn’s business practices. While customers can make customized necklaces within her shop, she realizes that people also want the ability to mix and match with other trinkets in their collections. “We’re gonna have them as little clips so you can take them on and off your own jewelry,” she says. “Our number one best seller of the whole year is just the loose charms.”
Alexis Nido-Russo, founder and CEO of the jewelry brand Local Eclectic recently introduced charms on the company’s in-house label, Family Gold. “We bought what we thought was two months of supply, and we sold out within 48 hours,” she says. Nido-Russo made a TikTok detailing what baubles and talismans she would include on a necklace that she would give to her now-4-year-old daughter before she goes to college. For her, these necklaces allow feelings and memories to transcend time, letting us latch on to specific places in our lives. “Going away to college is going to be a very emotional time and that my daughter would have something to remember the past with is just very beautiful and magical,” she says.
Three years ago, Heather Hurst began curating a necklace that holds symbols of her most precious memories: “I have like a motorcycle for my grandpa who used to ride Harley Davidsons, I have a diamond ‘H’ that I got after I got dumped. I also have a fish milagro from this jewelry designer named July Rose, and then I have the locket from when I was a baby, which is so sweet,” she says. “I also just recently bought a vintage little Snoopy charm that reminds me of being a kid. And then last one I have is half of a broken heart. I gave the other half to my best friend.”
The recent emphasis on truly unique personal style is causing an uptick of interest in customizable jewelry. “Custom is the rage right now. A lot of people want something that’s trendy, but at the same time, something that’s not exactly the trend that everybody else has," Hurst says. “I think it strikes the balance of being something you can build yourself, but then you still have the trend at large happening.” Korn concurs. “With people who have amazing personal style, they generally are just very unique or very themselves. The thing with charm necklaces is that it’s very unique to you, and I think that you can make them however you want. I think that is just so cool.”
TikTok content
Hurst argues that charm necklaces are one of the best ways to express individuality. “It’s very intentional, but in a way that also comes effortlessly, because it’s so easy to wear,” she says. “I think a lot of us want to express ourselves in our clothing and our personal style in purses and shoes, but those things are harder to match to make good outfits to feel like we’re really expressing who we are.” And, while expensive, these tokens can be bought in piecemeal, and the end result has a longevity that clothing doesn’t. “It s more recession-proof to wear charm jewelry just because it’s an easier way to collect jewelry over time,” Hurst adds. “It s like having Afterpay for jewelry.”
For those who seek the instant gratification of a complete necklace, some brands are selling them whole. The Sage Vintage is one such label, who counts Gigi Hadid as a fan of its chunky style. Kate Sullivan, who is behind the popular brand, started making jewelry during the beginning of the pandemic. “My dad and I did it as a hobby when I was little—that was how we bonded. So I bought some vintage jewelry and put it on some necklaces kind of take the jewelry apart and put it on necklaces,” she says. Sullivan’s necklaces, while premade, are unique and built out of vintage jewelry. But many of The Sage Vintage’s customers wanted to take it a step further and customize their own necklaces without having to spend years collections. “People want to tell their own story and pick out their own charms that might mean something to them. It’s one of the kind. You basically made it, I just put it together,” she says.
When Hadid stepped out in one of The Sage Vintage’s necklaces that Sullivan made at her house in Northern Idaho, Sullivan was just as surprised as anybody. While the supermodel’s patronage helped boost the brand’s popularity, Sullivan does worry that the celebrity endorsement could actually backfire, turning what is supposed to be a lifelong investment into a throwaway trend piece. “People have been liking the charm necklaces for a while, but it does kind of scare me that it’s gonna become a micro trend if all these celebrities start wearing it,” she says.
But while a micro trend certainly is a risk, the inherent individuality and sentimentality of the charm necklace prevails. “You can add pieces to your necklace that help you remember a specific moment in time, or a person, or a place, or a trip, and you can build that story over time,” Nido-Russo says. “That’s what is so beautiful about charms: this idea of giving something to someone that they’re going to take with them.”
