The assistant pointed me in the direction of some enamel painting kits which I bought unquestioningly, however the results have been very disappointing so this post is as a quick warning to those who might try and follow in my footsteps.  It turns out that ‘real enamel’ isn’t paint at all, but actually glass which is applied in tiny little shards to a metal surface and then fired in a kiln to melt it into place.  This process is repeated to build up layers and the result is a beautiful smooth glossy finish to the charms.  Enamel paint is not like this.  Now obviously I don’t have a kiln, so I am never going to get the results which ‘real enamel’ achieves, but I found enamel paint very disappointing, it doesn’t have any weight, it doesn’t have any shine, and within a few hours of it drying it had cracked and was starting to peel off one of the charms.

So fun charm enameling experiment over, I’ve learnt the hard way that if you want beautiful enameled charms then you are probably best off buying them.

Charms have to be attached to bracelets.  And yes, its probably not the most exciting thing in the world, but there try telling me that its not important when one of your prized tiffany charms has fallen off in the street somewhere and has no doubt been run over by a truck by now!  Findings are the small attachments which attach charms to charm bracelets.  Actually I believe technically that jewellery findings is an overarching name for any small intricate pieces of jewellery which are used in the assembly of earrings, pendants, necklaces and the like, but its only really with charm bracelets that I have come across the phenomena.

There are a number of these different ‘findings’ which you can use, and I’ve seen some people invent their own out of all sorts of string, wire, twine etc, but to be honest I don’t think its a long term solution, especially if you value your charms in anyway (plus I think they look daft).  The most common type of attachments for charms are lobster clasps, split rings, jump rings, spring rings or bolt rings.

These all have various benefits and downsides, and I’ll try and take each in turn to address their respective issues.  Firstly Lobster clasps.  Aptly named after their resemblance to a lobster’s pincer, you pull a little trigger back to open the clasp, and you can then attach it to pretty much anything.  Lobster clasps are sturdy and won’t open themselves so you can feel pretty confident that it is not going to loosen over time and drop your charm off.  That said, the sturdiness of them also means they can look clumsy, especially if you like small charms.  You can buy lobster clasps in solid gold and silver, as well as plate.

Split rings are like tiny little keyrings, you have to work the ring around whatever bracelet link you are attaching the charm to just as you would a keyring to a key.  The only problem is if you have a chunky bracelet they can be quite fiddly, and they might not fit at all.  They are quite standard, and most shops and websites will give you free split rings when you but a charm.

Often confused with split rings are jump rings.  These are rings with a little split in them (hence the confusion) which can be bent back to allow something (like a charm) in, then moved back into place to close the loop.  There are issues in that there is nothing keeping the ring shut, and over time they can work themselves open.  Accordingly you can get solder jump rings and no solder jump rings, but if you want to get these rings soldered then you will have to take them to a jeweller most of whom will charge anything up to £15 per charm which, depending on where you buy your charms from, is often considerably more expensive than the charms themselves.  A soldered jump ring is very secure, however, and does not have any of the bulkiness of lobster clasps.

Spring rings and bolt rings are like other varieties of lobster clasp, only circular.  The spring ring has a loaded spring mechanism which you can pull back to put around a bracelet, and the bolt rings a screw mechanism.  Both are secure, with a bolt ring probably being the most secure of the three, but they again suffer from the bulkiness of lobster clasps, and having a dozen of them on a bracelet really does look a bit clumsy.

My advice is go for what you feel looks best, but make sure its a secure option.  Soldered jump rings can be costly, but they are probably the best looking way to securely fasten a charm to a charm bracelet.  There’s no point in scrimping on your findings and if you would choose solid silver charms over plated, then I would say you want to do the same for your findings.  Plating can wear off over time, especially on findings which constantly rub against the other metal components, leading to miscolouring and sometimes rust, and you wouldn’t want that on your charm bracelet would you?

So what are European Charm Bracelets I hear you all ask? Well they are charm bracelets made up from beads. Not to be confused with bead bracelets I should say, and please see my earlier posts on seed bead bracelets etc if you are interested in them! No, these beads tend to be made from silver and occasionally made from gold and other metals with the odd bit of ceramic or stone thrown in for a little sparkle. There is no reason why you couldn’t use wooden beads or any other type of bead for that matter, but from my limited research only silver and precious metal charms seem to be associated with European Charm Bracelets, how very European!

As beads all these little silver charms have a hole in the middle and are thus added to a string style bracelet (you can get solid silver string style bracelets quite readily nowadays). Obviously you should know by now that I’m not a big fan of this type of charm bracelet – read my earlier comments on Pandora charm bracelets for example. That said, a charm bracelet is a charm bracelet and they are all pretty damn good in my books, by why call them European? I think we should fight back, where’s the stars and stripes charm bracelet when you need it? So the gauntlet is down, for any budding young American entrepreneurs (damn these Europeans, they even change our vocab) to invent a new style of charm bracelet, an American Charm Bracelet…

Pandora Charm Bracelet

One type of charm bracelet which definitely seems on the rise is the pandora charm bracelet. And no, I’m not talking about the jewelry company Pandora, I’m talking about the style of charm bracelet silly! I think maybe its because pandora charms are slightly cheaper than other silver charms – probably because on the whole they are smaller, but anyway I think that there are definitely more girls wearing them now than there used to be, so I thought I’d do a little post about them, plus its been a while…

So, firstly what is a pandora charm bracelet? Well that’s easy. Unlike normal charms which attach to a bracelet by some form of jewelry finding (like a loop, or bail, or jump ring) pandora charms are actually like little beads rather than charms, and the bracelet (normally made from nylon, plastic or elastic) actually goes through the center of the charms. Most pandora charms, although not all of them, are square-ish rather than most beads which seem to be round. This means that the overall bracelet effect is more like an Italian charm bracelet, although obviously slightly different.

I think they look good although I have the same bee in my bonnet about pandora charm bracelets as I do about Italian charm bracelets, they don’t jangle, and that is one of the coolest thing about normal charm bracelets with charms which hang. Anyway, jangle prejudices over, one of the other problems which affects pandora charm bracelets is that you need to have a full set of charms before you can wear it (unless you like the look of the bear plastic strapping which, incidentally, can hurt if you’ve not got charms between it and your wrists). Now, some people like to buy all their charms at once and have a full bracelet and that’s fine if they want, but it does mean that even though the overall price of the full bracelet is probably cheaper with a pandora charm bracelet that a normal silver charm bracelet (one other factor I forgot to mention of course is that a silver charm bracelet actually has an underlying silver bracelet, so obviously its more expensive) you don’t have to shell out for all the charms on a normal silver bracelet at once.

Quite apart from which I think part of the fun of getting a charm bracelet is that you can build up loads of charms over a long period of time. People know you have a charm bracelet so they can give them to you as presents etc and if you have all the charms on your bracelet already then this isn’t possible. Obviously there is nothing to stop you from having a whole pile of extra charms which you can sort of sub-on and sub-off from your bracelet when you like, but again that does away with the money saving side of having a pandora bracelet.

So this is what has annoyed me about pandora bracelets: no noise, and you have to have a full set of charms before you can wear it. There is, I suppose, a sort of solution to the latter problem, which is that some people sell pandora links which are essentially just a square with a loop which allows you to hang conventional charms from them. If you didn’t shell out all at once for all your charms for a pandora charm bracelet then you could at least buy some of these for the empty slots so that you can at least wear the thing and then you could gradually fill it up with conventional hanging charms. But, if you are going to go for this option it does beg the question, why on earth would you not just get a conventional silver charm bracelet to start off with?

Ranting over, I do actually have a couple of pandora charm bracelets, and although I have other bracelets which I love more, they’re both adorable and I love them to bits…

Seed bead bracelets not only look really cool, but personally I think that they are are a really comfy form of jewellery to wear as all the tiny beads almost form a fabric when they are weaved together. Lastly you can make these bracelets as small or as wide as you want, and once you have got competent with the weaving patterns, you can experiment and even weave names, words, and pictures into your bracelet, pretty cool huh?

To start with the basics on how to make a seed bead bracelet I’m going to introduce you to the ladder stitch. There are other stitches which can be used, but the beaded ladder stitch is probably the best stitch to use to get the most out of your beaded bracelet. Sometimes people make seed bead bracelets, or something similar at least, but they use bugle beads, however, bugle beads are for another post another day.

Back to how to make a beaded ladder stitch. Firstly you need to get a beading thread, I normally use nymo thread, but other people swear by silamide. Now get your beads. At this stage its vital to decide exactly how wide you want your seed bead bracelet to be, as once you’ve started building the ladder of beads, you can’t really go back and change it without having to start from scratch again.

For ease, I’ll say we’re going to build a bracelet which will be 5 seed beads wide. Take the first ten beads and put them on a needle with your beading thread attached. Slide the beads all the way down the needle until you have ten beads in the middle of your thread. Now put these beads on a flat surface and separate them slightly on the thread into 2 groups of 5. Fold the thread in between these 2 groups of 5 beads, so that you have both sets of beads sitting beside each other. Now post the needle back through one of the groups of 5 beads from the opposite side, giving you a small loop of the two sets of beads side by side.

Now you want to bring the needle back down through the second set of beads (sorry that’s not very clear, but you should have one set of 5 beads with thread going through it twice from where you have posted the needle through it from both sides, and one set of 5 beads with the thread going through it once – it is the set of 5 beads with the thread going through it once which I am referring to as the “second set of beads”) and once its through you can add another set of 5 beads to your needle.

The idea is to repeat the process, adding 5 beads at a time, and looping them through the set of beads right next to them, and slowly but surely a ladder of beads will form. Its difficult when you first try this to keep the ladder really tight, but ultimately you don’t want a loose bracelet as it won’t look nearly as good, and its far more likely to come off your wrist! If you are having difficulty in keeping your bead ladder tight, then you should go back through all the sets of beads in the bracelet with your needle and thread once more at the end, pulling it tight as you go. This should ensure that you have a beautiful bead bracelet.

I would also advice for beginners looking to make a seed bead bracelet for the first time that they choose beads which are slightly larger. This is just practical as seed beads are small and fiddly, and it can be very frustrating if you are not used to making your own jewellery. Using larger beads will help ensure that you get good practice at forming a bead ladder as it is much easier to string the bigger beads together. If I’m making a seed bead bracelet, however, I really like to use tiny seed beads as I think the overall effect works better, and otherwise its difficult to create that effect that the beads are like a fabric.

For those of you who don’t know, Italian charms are square blocks, normally in a base metal or silver (not sure I’ve ever seen a gold Italian charm, but they might exist, who knows? comment me) with an image on it.  I’m not sure that’s the best description to follow, so I’ll try and get a decent pic along side this post to show you what I mean.  Anyway, the point is that the charm just depicts something on the top of it, like a heart or football team, or word or whatever.  Obviously this is totally different from normal charms which mostly actually are minute models of things, so a teddy charm would actually be a charm in the shape of a teddy bear.  The other main difference between Italian charms and conventional charms is that because of their square shape they kinda click onto each other and that is how the bracelet is formed.  Most of them have a bare skeleton bracelet ready for the little square charms to click into them.

Ok so now, hopefully, you know what an Italian charm is, and what an Italian charm bracelet looks like.  Well I don’t think they are real charm bracelets.  I mean with real charm bracelets the whole point is that you get a charm which is a cute little bear, or a man shooting  a bow and arrow or whatever it is that you want, and its like a tiny little statue that hangs loosely from your bracelet, and they all jangle together.  Charms that are like little squares with drawings on them that clip into the bracelet are far less exciting and, in my opinion, much more like a normal bracelet.  Sure you can choose a whole pile of charms to suit your mood, hobbies etc and I suppose thats why they call them charm bracelets, but to me a real charm bracelet has things which dangle from it.

Another massive diasadvantage of the Italian brother of the charm bracelet is that all the charms have to be the same size.  Sometimes its nice to have a little bracelet which is a bit understated, and other times I want big long beads hanging off my wrist.  Having a bracelet which is so un-adaptable simply won’t do.

Lastly, and I guess most importantly, how do they look?  Well you can get some really amazing Italian charms from Nomination and a few other companies, but they aren’t cheap!  But the overall effect is not one of charm braceletness!  I mean most people probably wouldn’t notice them because everything is fixed in place and doesn’t make any noise or reflect light or catch the eye, or all the cool things which make normal charm bracelets so fab!  Italians are known for their good looks and sophistication, well I think they’ve missed a trick when making charm bracelets because the only people I know who wear them are young kids, and they’re nowhere near as fun, cool, versatile or goodlooking as normal charm bracelets.

Of course I told my friend that I’m sure it would look great! xx

Lots of people make bead bracelets, or use thread as the basis to hang charms on to make up a charm bracelet.  I don’t think there is one definitive type of thread to use on your bead or charm bracelet, it really depends on what you are using it for, how much you are wanting to spend on it, how long it is meant to last etc…

Silk is an expensive thread to use, and sometimes its more tricky to get hold of, but you can normally buy silk thread by the spool in most craft shops or online.  It is commonly used for pearls, although I’m not altogether sure why other than that its a luxury thread and pearls are clearly an expensive and luxurious type of jewellery.  In my experience silk can fray quite easily, making it less reliable than some other types of beading thread, although on the positive side, it does look good which is important if you have large sections of a bracelet in which the thread is on show, and if you are looking for jewellery thread for a necklace then silk is soft on the skin.

For seed beads, and probably for bugle beads and other small beads, nymo or silamide come very highly recommended.  Nymo needs to be waxed, either using bees wax, or you can sometimes buy specialist jewellery wax (watch out you don’t pay too much for this, as bees wax is cheap and works perfectly) for example Thread Heaven.  Silamide comes ready waxes, and comes as a few strands which have been pleated together to form a thread.  This means it is less ideal for beads with a really tiny hole, and it can be difficult to thread through a threading needle.  Both threads come in a whole range of colours and are relatively easy to get hold of from craft shops and online.

Monofilament is probably the first type of thread I used when I started to make my own bead jewellery and charm bracelets.  It is, however, far from ideal.  One of the biggest problems I have with it, is its quite stubborn to shape, and if its stored badly in a jewellery or craft box it can quite often misshapen, and then its almost impossible to get the kinks out.  It is also almost always clear and colourless, which is great if that’s what you want for a bead or charm bracelet, but its not very versatile.

Nylon is a synthetic material (its man made and doesn’t occur naturally like wool for example!).  The big advantage of this of course is it is one of the most resilient forms of jewellery thread, and shouldn’t fray or stretch.  One of the other reasons why I sometimes use Nylon thread when making jewellery is it is readily available in a whole pile of different sizes meaning you can use it with small beads, but if you want something a little more substantial, if say you’re wanting a bead bracelet you can hang some charms off, then you can use a larger thread size no probs!

I think one of the most attractive threads to use when making your own jewellery is leather.  Leather can be weaved and thus can form part of the design of the bracelet itself.  One of the coolest charm bracelets I have seen have a thick leather thread which was pleated, with small charms imbedded in the middle pleat every inch or so, all the way around the bracelet, genius!  Some people are funny about using leather products, which I can kind of understand, but if you want the look then faux leather is the same price, and just as easy to get hold of.  Most craft shops will sell leather thread in different sizes by the metre, but you have to look online if you want a really big selection of colours.

Hemp is another old classic for making bracelets from.  It has a slightly rough potato-sack type texture which is actually quite pleasant, and an “organic” look to it.  I wouldn’t really use hemp alongside modern charms, but it looks great with wooden beads or charms.

Lastly, if you are looking for a really sturdy thread to make a bracelet from, for example if you have big stones or large heavy charms which you want to hang on it, or if you want the bracelet to take on a fixed shape for example, then tiger-tale or coated wire are ideal.  Tiger-tale is essentially coated wire made from a series of tiny wires which are woven together before being covered with wire, sometimes the individual strands are prone to breaking, so its not something I would use for a bracelet.  Coated wire, however, is exactly that, a piece of wire which has been coated in a material.  Depending on the suppleness and thickness of the wire, it may be possible to bend or contort this, and build your bead or charm bracelet design around a wacky shaped bracelet.

So, there is a brief outline, if you are looking to make your own bead or charm bracelet, and not sure what materials will work best as a thread.  There are of course, hundreds of designs of plain bracelets designed specifically for charms, beads, crystals, rhinestones and the like to be hung on them, and hopefully in another post I’ll get a chance to discuss the various merits of them too…

Swarovski Crystals

Swarovski Charms

Almost every city I’ve ever been in seems to have a Swarovski jewellery shop, normally identifiable from the large Swan logo, and a window display of hundreds of glass crystals normally against a black felt background. Swarovski crystals are very popular, can be quite expensive, but they’re fun, and there are a number of Swarovski charms and swarovski beads and swarovski rhinestones out there which are excellent for charm bracelets.

From what I can gather Swarovski crystals are made from glass using a patented technique which was invented in Austria, basically a special way of cutting the glass. A lot of the beads are simply glass beads which have been cut in this fashion, but you get a huge number of swarovski charms, which essentially inset swarovski small swarovski crystals into charms, normally solid silver, although I think I’ve seen some silver plate ones too.

The reason I like making charm bracelets with a few swarovski charms or rhinestones alongside some more traditional solid silver charms is that its a great way of splashing a bit of colour. There are some really good fun ones on the market, including an ice-cream with swarovski crystals used to represent sprinkles on top, and a bright pink flip flop. Birthstones and rhinestones also look great, and its cool when your charm bracelet catches the light and you suddenly get a little flash of colour. One thing I would say if you are looking to buy swarovski charms is the tiny individual swarovski crystals can sometimes work themselves loose from the charm, so you need to take a little more care of them, and make sure you buy them from a reputable seller who will be happy to take returns if you buy a swarovski charm and it arrives damaged in anyway.

How to make your own charm bracelet, an overview…

Ok well I’ll start with the basics. There are so many different types and varieties of charm bracelet that you could go dizzy just thinking about them. If you want to make your own charm bracelet then its worth having a little think about exactly what it is you’re looking for, the style, the materials (bear in mind that if you want to build up a bracelet with lots of charms, then it could prove quite expensive so its worth taking an opportunity before you begin to think about what you want to use as charms).

Most charm bracelets use a simple bracelet design, either made from a material (hemp is ideal if you want a material charm bracelet) or from metal. Bracelets made from precious metals like silver are not that expensive, and may prove longer lasting. Other ways to get your bracelet are to get a piece of nylon or elastic and add beads to it, hanging the charms in between each bead on the bracelet. Remember if you are using elastic to make your bracelet to ensure it is not too tight as otherwise it could irritate your wrist, and we don’t want that!

Ok, so now you should have a bracelet with no charms on it, think of it as an empty canvas. Its time to choose your charms. Charms can be anything, from gold or sterling silver charms encrusted with diamonds and crystals, to precious stones, to beads, to little figures you have made yourself. I like to see charm bracelets with a splash of colour, either through interesting stones or beads. You can pick up beads online for very little, or from your local art store. Silver, Gold and other designed charms are available at some Highstreet shops (Links of London, Accessorize and a whole pile of others) and vary enormously in price, or are available online (www.thecharmworks.com,www.linksoflondon.com,www.jewelbasket.com etc) and there can be some great deals on ebay (although be aware when buying charms off ebay that they can vary wildly in quality, make sure you buy what you think you are buying!).

There are an almost infinite number of designs of charms, its worth buying those which you feel reflect your character best. Whether that means choosing charms which bring back certain memories, or charms which represent your pet, or even those which remind you of a joke with friends, part of the fun is to gather a collection of charms which is truly personal and that seems to sum you up as an individual.

Some people like to have charm bracelets which are fairly sparse, with only 8 or 9 charms on them. Personally I prefer a charm bracelet which is packed with 17-20 charms. Its important to bear this in mind before you buy your bracelet, as there is no point scrimping on buying a really cheap bracelet made from very thin silver, for example, only to find out that it will only support 8 charms!

Once you have compiled what charms you are going to use, you should work out in what order they should go on the bracelet. I always think that its good to get a variety of sizes, with big charms right next to small ones and so on. Also when deciding what order to put your charms on, remember if you have used initials, or numbers representing a birthday that these are on the right way. I know this sounds obvious, but there is nothing more annoying than putting your charm bracelet together, only to realise that you made a mistake when putting in the initials, and now you have to take it apart and start again!

Now you are ready to attach the charms to your bracelet. Depending on the type of charms you have gone for, methods for this can vary hugely, and I intend to write a short post discussing the different use of clips, rings and hooks which are commonly used, and what in my opinion are the best ones to use. Of course if you are using beads, then commonly these are attached by wire, thread or elasticated thread.

Remember when you do attach your charms to your charm bracelet its important to decide whether you will want to make changes to your charm bracelet in the future, in which case you should make sure that you have attached your charms in a non-permanent manner (e.g. do not use solder).

Charm Bracelets :

www.linksoflondon.com, www.thecharmworks.com, www.jewelbasket.com

Bead charm bracelet

Welcome to my first post.  Ok so here is the plan, this blog, or whatever its called is about charm bracelets, and each week I plan to post a different article about charms, charm bracelets, and occasionally other jewelry.  I will try to keep all the posts on topic, but I might mix it up a bit, and introduce some stuff about other things I like to talk about.  Having said that, as the title of the blog indicates, its mainly going to be about charm bracelets, why? Because I suffer from a mild charm bracelet obsession!

For the real basics, and I don’t know why you would be on here if you don’t already know, but just incase…what is a charm bracelet?  Essentially it is any bracelet from which you can attach or dangle charms.  Charms can be any object of aesthetic or sentimental beauty, and can be made from pretty much any material.  I have seen people bind stones they have found on the beach with some wire and turn them into charms, just because they liked the pattern on the stone.  Similarly glass, especially glass found on a beach actually (as it has been worn down by the sand to produce a smooth surface) can be made into charms.  Other things might be small trinkets, beads, carved wooden charms (you can even make them out of cork!) and of course, silver and gold charms, as well as the usual rhinestones, crystals, etc that you see.  To put it simply, charm bracelets are fun bracelets with dangly things hanging from them…

Over the posts I will hopefully get a chance to review charms and charm bracelets from different parts of the world, and different shops etc…I will be posting about popular types and styles of charm, and also about how to make various bracelets, from weaving beads to designing your own charms and everything in between.

I would love any feedback, and once I’ve worked out how to get a website running properly I would encourage all lovers of charms and charm bracelets to get in touch with me, whether it is for clarification about anything I’ve written, suggestions for future posts, questions about charm bracelets, or even photos of your own charm bracelet designs etc…