The trend of wearing a charm is ancient and goes back several hundred years. People wore many types of charms as amulets or talisman to stay away from harm and bad luck. Each carried a different meaning and history.

The French had a list of 10 charms, which were famous and used as amulets in gold charm bracelets. These were the most famous ones and were worn by many people in ancient times. Elephant (Felicite) is a charm for happiness, heart (Armor) is for love, four-leaf clover (Bonheur) is for luck, and horseshoe magnet (Argent) is for silver or money due to magnets drawing power.

A die showing seven spots (Veine) is for games of chance or gamblers luck, the number 13 is for joy, a charm shaped like pig (Prosperite) is for prosperity, a Hamsa hand (Richesse) is for protection against the evil eye, horseshoe Fidelite is for attraction or drawing power, and Pansy (Souvineir ) is for remembrance or language of flowers.

When American craftsmen started making gold charm bracelets, the charms took another dimension and variety of signs were added. This time the purpose of wearing a charm was not to ward off evil or for prosperity, they were just worn as a personalized jewelry piece. In 1950’s and 60’s, charm bracelets were mostly worn by adolescent girls.

Chinese had their assortment of charms. They usually used real stones like pearls, carved jades, emeralds, and rubies strung on a black thread to make a charm bracelet.

During recent times, same old charm figures are still used to make perfect charm bracelets but the purpose has changed. Vintage charms have taken over the market and many people like to have them in their collection.