I was helping my college age daughter clean out her room this past weekend in an effort to get her organized for the packing extravaganza that was going to take place this week in preparation for her return to college. She left today : ( I love to go through every nook and cranny and weed out items that are not longer wanted or used. I am not by nature a saver. In going through her jewelry we came upon her charm bracelet. A delicate gold chain with about 20 charms hanging around it. We gave each of the girls a bracelet for Christmas one year when they were probably 6 or 7. Each birthday, holiday or special vacation we would try to find an appropriate charm to add to the bracelet. They were small charms and the girls have since out grown them but love them just the same. It was such fun to look at each charm and talk about the significance or special memory behind them.
I have always loved charm bracelets and don't feel that they have ever gone out of style. They are timeless and represent our lives as we evolve and grow old. My grandmother had wonderful charm bracelets and my mother still wears hers with the addition of the charms she inherited from my grandmother.
I am in the diamond business and a client came in the other day with an engagement ring and wedding band that were his grandmothers. He wanted to do something with them and present them as a gift to his wife for an anniversary. The rings certainly held great emotional significance to this client but were small and due to the age, they were his grandmother’s rings, the cut was not what it should be on the round diamonds and they did not have any sparkle, fire or brilliance. We very kindly suggested that maybe he should consider another alternative versus simply resetting them in a piece of jewelry that his wife may or may not ever wear. We suggested starting a charm bracelet and adding the rings to it in there original form. That way they would be preserved and the bracelet could be added to in the future. He was thrilled with the idea and thanked us for all of our help.
Taking a sentimental piece of jewelry that would, under normal circumstances, just sit in a jewelry box and turning it into something that can be worn and enjoyed as well as being a conversation piece I think is a wonderful gift.
Go to http://jewelry.about.com/cs/charmbracelets/tp/charm.htm for great charm bracelet options
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