Simply Charming
I hear my family's voices in the jangling of my charms. — Viola Shipman
Long before life’s momentous events were documented in photo albums, posted on social media, or even foisted upon unsuspecting dinner guests via old school slide carousels, they were embedded in charm bracelets.
Most would agree that there is something irresistibly ‘charming’ about a charm bracelet. Some people love the jingle-jangle a charm bracelet makes when the wearer is in motion. Others enjoy getting up close and personal to examine each individual charm hanging from the links. For me, the most interesting and fascinating thing about a charm bracelet is its ability to tell a story unique to its owner. A charm bracelet functions as a history of sorts dangling from a woman’s wrist, and women use them to record all sorts of minor or major occasions in their lives.
Charm bracelets were in their heyday in the 50s and 60s and were a big craze for young girls and teenagers like me. A vast array of charms were available for young girls representing friendship, birthdays, graduations, hobbies, summer vacations, school supplies, sweet sixteen, going steady, and much more. Owning a charm bracelet was a rite of passage of sorts, and receiving one was cause for much celebration.
Imagine my delight when Dad gave me my first charm bracelet on my 15th birthday. It contained two charms—a 4-leaf clover “Happy Birthday charm” with a tiny red garnet (my birthstone) and a “You’re an Angel” charm. The next year, on my 16th birthday he added one more charm—one that read “Sweet 16.” On the occasion of my 17th birthday I received another “Happy Birthday” charm, one that contained an even bigger red garnet.
Many of my teenage friends added to their bracelets as they grew into womanhood adding charms chronicling their engagement, marriage, honeymoon, anniversaries, birth of children, travel, hobbies, and careers. Unlike my friends, I never added charms to my original charm bracelet. I’m not quite sure why. When I ventured off to college, I wrapped my charm bracelet in tissue paper tucking it inside my jewelry box, safe and secure. The years hence rapidly unfolded, and I rarely thought about my charm bracelet. It was truly out of sight and out of mind.
Yet, somehow my teenage jewelry box and original bracelet miraculously survived, accompanying me through countless moves over the past 50+ years. Imagine my surprise when I recently found the vintage jewelry box and discovered my first charm bracelet inside, neatly wrapped in the protective white tissue paper that had yellowed with age.
At this point in my life, I wish I had added to my charm bracelet, for there is no other piece of jewelry that acts as a time post and records a woman’s life quite like a charm bracelet. Charms are tokens of treasured moments that reveal the passage of time and the journey a woman has taken. Call me sentimental (Well, okay. I am actually quite sentimental.), but I liken them to wearing a photo album full of happy memories swinging from my wrist. They’re certainly far less cumbersome than retrieving my photo albums from my closet shelf and revisiting some of my most precious memories. They’re a timeless legacy and simply charming.
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