Charms are an elevated way to bring in playful personality to your everyday jewels and a cornerstone of our jewelry offering at Broken English. As an expression of one’s jewelry story, choosing the right charms can be a little overwhelming. From pops of color to personalization, BE’s Founder Laura Freedman breaks down the best and easiest ways to build out a charm collection (including styling them in unexpected ways!)
Where is a good place to start when collecting charms?
Go with your gut! Start with a piece you’re drawn to but don’t force it. Charms can add so much personality to an otherwise simple chain, but it should also feel like an authentic expression of yourself. Even if that means doing a little soul searching, we’re here to help find you just the right thing. Something that holds personal meaning or is a color or shape you’re attracted to makes for a piece that’s truly a part of you. Jewelry is all about self-expression.
What are a few kinds of charms?
Initial letters are a beautiful way to quite literally spell out your story. Many of our clients use these to represent names of loved ones and they always make for a beautiful commemorative gift for new life and or celebration of a life lived. Birthstones can also serve the same purpose and is a very sentimental way to add some color to your daily wear jewelry. Metal “tag”-shaped pendants are another great way to show personalization as a blank canvas for engraving. We have a lot of shapes like hearts, moons and animals for some quirky whimsy that becomes a real conversation-starter.
What do you love most about the versatility of charms?
Charms can instantly change up a look of jewelry and breathe new life into a chain you might have forgotten about in your jewelry box. They are a great piece to pack for travel since they don’t take up a lot of space and can easily be switched around throughout your trip. As your life story grows and changes, so does your charm collection. It’s truly an evolving category and such a beautiful way to share your life story with the world through jewelry and show off what means a lot to you at this current moment.
How do you style charms?
The easiest and most obvious way is to add them on a chain as a pendant. I think it’s a beautiful look to have at least two varying lengths of chain and charms on both. Some people love dangling a few on one chain that clink together in a jangly way, but this can lead to scratching so I wouldn’t recommend wearing it this way on something you want to keep as smooth as possible or has a lot of stones. I also love building a classic charm bracelet style and finding charms that have easy connectors to connect onto wider links of a chain. It can be the most special heirloom to pass down once its complete. I also think adding smaller charms to huggie-sized hoops is such a playful and unexpected look that can give more mileage to charms over time.
Who are some of the designers who specialize in charms at Broken English?
We have an incredible selection of charms from so many designers I love. Loquet is a go-to for building out these clear lockets you fill with little shapes and symbols. Foundrae’s whole line is rooted in symbolism and talismans that speak to the many phases of one's life. The enamel zodiac charms from Trouver are also a favorite, they come in all different colors.
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