Jewelry trends come and go, but the attention they get while they’re around is amazing. We all remember the choker necklaces, power beads and of course, charm bracelets. This week, Valley is taking its readers back to the early 2000s to reminiscence about Italian charm bracelets.
If you’re unfamiliar with Italian charm bracelets, they are silver modular links hooked together to form a stretchy bracelet. Typically, a bracelet is 18 links in length. To start your own, you buy a completely blank bracelet and then purchase individual charm faces (letters, designs, etc.) to switch out for the plain ones. So, until a bracelet is complete, there will be blank and charm faces mixed together.
This trend, obviously started by Italians, got attention from American tourists as early as the 1990s, but a majority of the country didn’t join the craze until the early 2000s. Many of us ladies can remember seeing these charms in Limited Too and in several department stores.
Why did we love them?
The reason these bracelets were so popular was because you could personalize it the way you wanted. There were charms for almost any hobby and interest. “I picked out charms that I thought represented me,” said Emily Solomon, junior. “I had a little yellow punch buggy that I thought was cute and I always wanted a yellow punch buggy in real life.”
There were also letters, birth stones, flags, animals and anything else you could possibly think of. The charms truly tailored to everyone’s interests. Some big name companies even got in on the craze, so you could find Disney and NFL charms to support your favorite characters and players. These bracelets were entirely representative of you and everything you loved.
Why do we miss them?
Charms were very easy to change and take on and off because all you had to do was unhook them. You could get a new look in seconds based on your mood or interest change. Not to mention, each charm was relatively cheap. Compared to the dollars we spend on Pandora charms and Alex and Ani bracelets, buying one Italian charm was nothing.
Photo credit: pinterest.com
Sooner or later all styles come back in (look how many times flare leg pants have made comebacks lol), so I say we all start wearing ours & get them to become hot again!! I miss wearing mine so I’m getting it out right now! Lol
As far as I am aware of the Italian charm bracelets, I think they are quite authentic by the designs. It will surely give a reliable look to the one wearing it. Such a fine post it is.
One of the most popular thing about these charms were that one could personalize it the way they wanted. These charms were easy to take on or off because all one had to do was just unhook them. For more charms one can visit
http://www.babyshoecharms.com/
@kseibs30 @ValleyMag haha yes! and I’m pretty sure I still have mine
“@ValleyMag: we’re throwing it back to the must-have jewelry trend of the early 2000s http://t.co/rJNP5uiSMN” @boltzOfun we had them