Charm School

[ignitioned32]

Charm school

If you are giving a jewel as a holiday gift, make sure it is filled with charm. Make that charms. For the bracelet with dangling miniature sculptures is the story of the season.
.
Whether it is a thick chunky chain with a cluster of charms or just one elegant heart as if on a fine gold thread, an idea for adornment that had been seen mainly as a children's play thing is suddenly the essence of cool.
.
Once Mariah Carey named her album "Charmbracelet," Jennifer Lopez was pictured holding up a Louis Vuitton chain and all Hollywood was mad for the look, it was only a matter of time before the big jewelers produced their version of a style that had been out of fashion for half a century.
.
Two things seem to have come together: the fun of "bling-bling" - named for the onomatopoeic ***** of heavy (gold) metal as worn by flamboyant rappers - and the desire to personalize objects in a homogenous fashion world.
.
The charm of a charm is that it is a souvenir, a private secret and above all something that you assemble for yourself on its chain. Traditionally it was filled with tokens of love between sweethearts or reflected family mementos.
.
Hence the predominance of hearts, from Tiffany's diamond-encrusted high jewelry to the tiny tinkling hearts you might find on the Internet. Click on the site of C.H.A.R.M (for Charms Have a Real Meaning) at charmco. com or visit www. linksoflondon.co.uk and a wealth of images and letters allows you to spell out - figuratively or literally - a message.
.
The charm crosses boundaries. You can find classy versions in 18-karat gold from Dior or inexpensive gold- or silver-plated versions on main street. There are pieces that are small and cute - even kitsch if you include the tourists' dangling Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty or London bus. There are also pieces so refined and elegant that they are strung with precious stones.
.
In contrast to feminine, girly looks, there are thick chains with chunky charms, perhaps in the gothic style of the Los Angeles-based Chrome Hearts - a favorite of Karl Lagerfeld. Heavy-metal accessories come too from Hedi Slimane at Dior, who has been responsible for re-launching male jewelry.
.
Charm bracelets were last in fashion in the postwar 1950's, when women retreated to hearth and home. Then subjects were sweet and wistful, including messages from loved ones and such whimsical images as ballerinas.
.
The idea of the charm as something to ward off the evil eye had a more somber history in the memento mori images of skulls and bones in Catholic countries. Another historical influence was the language of gemstones, when names or love messages were spelled out: as in "Adore," from amethyst, diamond, onyx, ruby and emerald, and "Teresa," from topaz, emerald, rhinestone, emerald, sapphire, aquamarine. To that was added the complex - and now mostly forgotten - "language" of stones, when gems are associated, like flowers, with particular characteristics: pearls for tears or jet for mourning.
.
The Victorians fueled the vogue for sentimental pieces - not least Queen Victoria herself, who until her death wore a bracelet with the picture of her dead husband, Prince Albert.
.
The young queen had a taste for souvenirs, wearing bracelets set with her children's portraits and strands of their hair in lockets. She asked Garrard, the crown jeweler, to make a gold miniature bracelet with "Louise," her daughter's name, spelled out in gems. Albert's death in 1861, when Victoria was only 42, set off a spasm of mawkish commemoration: She gave their daughter Beatrice a model of her dead father's eye for her sixth birthday.
.
Sentimental pieces run through British royalty, from the charms engraved with love messages given to Wallis Simpson by the future Duke of Windsor to the "D" for Diana that the future Princess of Wales was given by her family on her 16th birthday.
.
The Windsors' souvenirs - a Cartier diamond slipper charm commemorating the death of their Irish terrier, Slipper; bracelets filled with ruby and emerald crosses, and the intertwined W and E initials for Wallis and Edward - underline the personal secrets that can be hidden in a wristful of charms.
.
International Herald Tribune

Opinions?

 

[Honey]

I have had a charm bracelet since I was about 10 years old. My grandmother would always bring me small charms, everything from a ballet slipper, to a Class of 2002 one. It's nothing that I wear on a daily basis, but it's nice to have a little heirloom. I suppose it would be something I would give my daughter once she was old enough not to lose it

 

[HBoogie]

Originally posted by ignitioned32@Dec 18th, 2003 - 9:24 am
Two things seem to have come together: the fun of "bling-bling" - named for the onomatopoeic ***** of heavy (gold) metal as worn by flamboyant rappers - and the desire to personalize objects in a homogenous fashion world.

I thought "bling bling" had more to do with the light reflecting off something than the sound.

Good article, though. The historical information is quite interesting. Thanks, Igni.

 

[ignitioned32]

Your welcome, HBoogie!

 

[Spacemiu]

charm bracelts have been in and out every other months

but i love them

 

[ultramarine]

Originally posted by HBoogie+Dec 18th, 2003 - 4:53 pm--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(HBoogie @ Dec 18th, 2003 - 4:53 pm)</div><div class='quotemain'> <!--QuoteBegin-ignitioned32@Dec 18th, 2003 - 9:24 am
Two things seem to have come together: the fun of "bling-bling" - named for the onomatopoeic ***** of heavy (gold) metal as worn by flamboyant rappers - and the desire to personalize objects in a homogenous fashion world.

I thought "bling bling" had more to do with the light reflecting off something than the sound.

Good article, though. The historical information is quite interesting. Thanks, Igni. [/b][/quote]
I read somewhere that word "bling-bling" was added to the english dictionary and its origin is credited to some rapper

 

[StellaStarr]

wow wrong way to use it but whatever great article