This year, sentimental jewelry is all the rage. Charm bracelets, lockets, engraved pendants, monogrammed pendants, photo pendants, and necklace charms are increasingly popular. Jewelry has taken on not just an ornamental but a symbolic significance; therefore, a custom-made jewelry gift is the perfect gift to give this year. The great thing about custom-made gifts are that they are completely original. Giving a custom-made piece of jewelry ensures her that she will never run into another person wearing the same bracelet or pair of earrings. It’s as though you are saying she is one-of-a-kind, matchless, and irreplaceable, and therefore she deserves a design as rare as she is. The beauty of custom jewelry is that it can inimitable without being expensive. A custom necklace can be created using a simple cord decorated with a copper disk that has her initials engraved upon it. Two turquoise beads might accent the disc and voila! You have created a thoughtful, unique design personalized just for her.

Pandora style beads make customization fun. Choose alphabet block beads to create a bracelet with her children’s names. Make the bracelet beautiful by incorporating gold-plated beads with intricate filigree. This custom-made gift will adorn her wrist at formal events as well as during trips to the supermarket. Charm bracelets and necklaces are also beautiful, personal gift options. Many jewelry artisans design custom earrings using beads, precious stones, and metals. Hand blown glass beads and chiseled metals make crafted earrings that are completely unique. Add layers of symbolism to custom designs by incorporating birthstones, engravings, and symbolic charms. In the end, sentimentality is much more valuable than gold or diamonds.

Charm bracelets, which were extremely popular in the 1950s, are making an appreciated resurgence. Daughters who wore their mother’s and grandmother’s heirloom bracelets are now passing on the tradition to their children. Trendy teenagers who have never seen the iconic charm bracelets of yore are collecting charms for their own bracelets. Adult women are drawn to the new, modern, whimsical and eclectic styles of charm bracelets, and are beginning memories of their own. Part of the charm bracelet fad is due to the sudden popularity of self-expressive jewelry. Jewelry, just decades ago collected for mostly ornamental purposes or to exhibit social status, is now being worn as a way to articulate one’s own unique personality. Jewelry has also taken on symbolic meaning: it is no longer just engagement and wedding rings that hold personal significance to their owners. Handmade earrings, heart-shaped or forever-style necklaces, and especially charm bracelets, are not only personal displays of style but have symbolic worth. Charm bracelets hold layers of symbolism. Each charm is representative of an important aspect or memory in a person’s life. Wearing a charm bracelet is like carrying your autobiography on your wrist. Each charm tells a story. Not only are charm bracelets lovely representatives of the rich life their wearers have lead, but charm bracelets are made to be passed down from generation to generation, as each recipient adds their own memories in the form of tiny, personalized emblems. The charm bracelet becomes a familial tapestry.

Today’s charm bracelets are stylish and even more customizable than ever before. Charms come in different sizes and shapes and there are limitless possibilities as to the meaning behind each representation. Charm bracelets never cease to draw a smile: both on the wearer’s face and on those who hear the jangle and glimpse the glitter of the bracelet on another’s wrist.