4:44 p.m. - 2006-10-02

Charm Bracelet Generation

I think I’m dating myself here, but are you a woman of the “Charm bracelet” generation?

Not the kind of charm bracelets you buy now - the kind that comes with all the charms. But the kind of bracelet that no matter where your travels took you or events occurred, you bought a special little charm that represented the place or time and you added to your bracelet. Generally you acquired your empty silver bracelet around your 13th or 16th birthday. When I was a girl it represented my transformation (of sorts) from girlhood to womanhood, in a jewellery sense. This also gave a direction or gift ideas for your family and friends when birthdays or Christmas rolled around.

I think I was 13 or so when I got mine. I had always been so envious of my mother’s and my great Aunts. I loved to look through the charms they’d collected. I imagined the places or milestones the little trinket illustrated. I also enjoyed the sound of the bobbles jingle-jangling together.

I inherited my great Aunt’s bracelet many years ago, and occasionally wear it and my own, but often forget to put on some of the fun jewellery I have. With my mother’s recent passing I added her bracelet to my treasure chest. I wore it last week to give me comfort. I’m sure the soft jingle-jangle of it drove the people around me crazy, but that’s ok.

So … am I the only one out there who remembers this feminine tradition? Please leave me a note and let me know.

Here is a picture of what I’m talking about – in case you haven’t heard of them before.

It’s not quite “bling-bling”, but they’re fun none-the-less.