Antique jewelry often provides context and clues into someone’s past life — how they lived, what they believed in, who they loved, and those they mourned. One of the most storied pieces that still resonates today is the charm necklace, a collection of meaningful symbols for its wearer. “The history of the charm necklace is probably similar to the history of the locket,” says jewelry historian and designer Erica Weiner. “The locket has mutated from an amulet or a talisman or a religious token into what it is now, which is a photo container, to cast a magical spell, for protection or remembrance or prayer.”
“Almost every culture had charms,” she says. Neolithic jewelers fashioned charms out of bone beads or words carved into stones. Ancient Egyptians created scarabs that adorned the dead. Ancient Romans who went into battle sewed them into their uniforms for victory and strength. During the Middle Ages and the Byzantine period when charms were mass-produced, people who went on a pilgrimage to the holy land could collect a souvenir in the form of a little metal trinket, also known as a pilgrim badge. “We still collect ones that are relevant to us, such as symbols we feel we represent or hope for,” says Weiner. “We assign meaning to things that don’t even always have meaning but symbolism has always been very appealing to humans.”
For those looking to build their own charm necklaces, Erica Weiner and her cofounder Lindsay Salmon offer an antique-inspired handclasp chain necklace (also available in silver), specifically designed for adding charms. (It was one of the brand’s best-selling pieces from last year, after the “secret message” acrostic collection.)
“The idea of the open hand or the handshake goes way back. In ancient Rome, handshakes were a way of showing peaceful intent because if you offer someone your empty hand it shows you’re not holding a weapon,” says Weiner. Some thousands of years later, the delicate hand motif remained prevalent throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in women’s jewelry. “There were a lot of necklaces and bracelets where the clasp of the jewel was a hand, or there were rings with two hands holding or concealing a heart. Those were wedding rings a lot of the time. Hands have always symbolized an affectionate or friendly union.”
To recreate the handclasp necklace for modern day, the Erica Weiner Jewelry team sourced antique handclasp pieces from the Georgian and Victorian eras that served as inspiration. They enlisted the help of jewelry designer Lucy Geist, who figured out how to get all the elements — a tiny hand holding a large spring ring to accommodate multiple charms — to hang correctly when worn around the neck. (Look closely — the little hand also wears a tiny pinky ring!)
It’s safe to assume that many antique pieces served as tokens of love by the way they were monogrammed or engraved, or personalized with certain gemstones — but I ask Weiner if they still come across pieces that require cleansing, or even a gut check. (After all, some of these centuries-old jewelry have uncertain pasts and you never want to start shit with the cursed.) “I’m really into energy and unseen worlds and spirits, so there have been a few pieces where I’ve picked them up and felt such a bad vibe that I didn’t buy them — but most of them don’t carry anything to me,” she says. “Whatever meaning and energy is in the piece is really going to transfer to the next owner. I’m just a brief carrier of the thing.”
Ahead, a roundup of friends’ charm necklaces and the backstory on how they built their collection. (The interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Erica Weiner, cofounder, Erica Weiner Jewelry
“I have a charm holder that’s goddamn amazing — it’s an old split ring from the early 1800s and it’s in the shape of a circular snake. It was meant for a man to attach watch fobs onto his pocket watch to anchor the watch chain in his pocket. Most of my charms are also men’s watch fobs.
“I have one charm where someone took the jaws of a mink or weasel or rodent, some sort of tiny mammal, and they mounted them in gold. It’s called a charivari, an 18th-century Bavarian hunting talisman that people would put on a silver chain and then go hunting with these little bejeweled animal parts to ensure a fruitful hunt. On the backside it has oak leaves and acorns on it, which is a kind of fertility or possibility symbol.”
“I have another fob, a wax seal with a plow on it that says, ‘Godspeed the plow.’ It probably belonged to a farm owner or landowner, and I bought it when I was trying to have my first baby and was having a lot of trouble. It seemed like a lucky fertility talisman and I wore it to every doctor’s appointment. Took a really long time to have my kid, but I was like, ‘OK, I’m plowing the field. The work is being done. It’s going to take a long time. The seeds are being planted. I need to have faith.’
“Lindsay and I also have friendship charms, which is another great evolution of the charm, which started at least in the ancient Roman era. Our charm necklaces are ancient Roman Medusa cameos, black Onyx with Medusa’s head in white. We bought two of them together and Lindsay made necklaces out of them.”
Illyse Singer, cinema director, Roxy Cinema New York
“I had been wanting a charm necklace for so long. We did a pop-up with Erica Weiner at the theater, and they brought in all this cool stuff, and I found a little set. The chain and all the charms were separate and we put them together. There was a split ring with a turquoise heart and key, and I picked out a bunch of other charms with Lindsay’s help, including a flower locket that Erica had found in Maine. I also fell in love with an amethyst fob seal that says ‘Fidélité’ with a little dog. Later, I added a pearl, my birthstone, as a reminder of things that can transform. I’m going to keep adding to the necklace — this is kind of the beginning. I like wearing Erica Weiner stuff because they’re close to my heart, having worked for them for years. I love what they do. [When it comes to collecting antique jewelry] I look all over the place — at fairs, online — and I pick up whatever speaks to me. I’m always looking for new treasures.”
Caitlin McMullen, stylist & costume designer
“My collection started as a family thing. My dad bought me a few things in my teen years. I realized how much funny jewelry I had been gifted through all the Catholic celebrations of my childhood, and I started to add and play. I never take anything off even if I’m in the shower or at the beach so my jewelry stack kind of ebbs and flows. I change out necklaces when one breaks or starts to tangle or drive me crazy.
“Most jewelry I buy is usually prioritized by sterling silver, at least as the base, and the price. If I buy extra chains, it’s to fill a length void. I had a phase of 10k gold eBay hunts — I’ve purchased a ton of great rings and things for like $5. If I’m shopping with friends, I try to help them look for stamping. On most sterling or gold, there’s a really tiny 925 or 14k stamp by the clasp.
My current necklace stack, from top to bottom:
• A nameplate of my last name, McMullen
• The middle charm necklace is an ode to my Irish and Italian heritage. The charms are a small piece of Murano glass, Italian horns, a tiny enamel map of New Jersey, and a small moon (“Moon” is my dad’s lifelong nickname from the Jersey Shore)
• A heavy rolo chain
• A Tiffany heart! Brought her back outta the middle school wardrob
• A Sullivan nameplate to represent the extended side of my family
• On the longest chain is a charm collection I created during the pandemic: a charm depicting The Last Supper, a charm that says ‘JUST KILLIN TIME’, and a diamond Big Apple”
KYK, writer
“On one of my recent trips to Paris, I got obsessed with the religious bookstore La Procure (located in the 6th arrondissement), one of the few places in the city where a shopkeeper won’t immediately switch to English with you and where, along with various books on theology, one can find an especially onctueuse and forte jar of mustard made by Trappist monks and other holy goods. Back in March, I found a beautiful Virgin Mary charm encased in a glassy blue; a few months later, when I returned, I saw new additions to their charms collection, including this sweet little shell that I snapped up (the charms cost 1.75 Euros each and I plan on adding more on my future Paris trips). The shell, which is also featured in La Procure’s logo, can signify Christian identity, pilgrimage, or baptism. It also happened to be perfect for my Greek island honeymoon I was headed to right after Paris. The star pendant — along with the chain itself — is by Maria Black and I got it from a goody bag for the premiere of the Gossip Girl reboot (2021), which my friend Eric wrote on. You can see the character Julien wearing the necklace in the show. Random assortment, I know, but all meaningful.”
Marissa Rosenblum, editor
“The puffy silver heart is from when I was a kid. The other side has a tooth mark because I think I used to bite it. The teeny tiny flower is a Helen Ficalora charm that I kept from the Seventeen magazine fashion closet [where I used to work]. We used to have tons of them as extras for beauty shoots. The ‘fleur d’automne’ charm is a cheapie I bought in Amsterdam on a trip with my friend years ago. Makes me think of fun times. The silver ring is inscribed ‘gam zeh yaa or,’ Hebrew for ‘this too shall pass.’ The phrase tied to a King Solomon fable has several meanings. In both, it reminds you that everything passes and you’ll get through it, and also a reminder of life’s impermanence and cyclical nature. It’s often written in a circle and this one spins nicely between the fingers. Highly recommend as a thoughtfully melancholic fidget tool! The hand holding a golden ring — it was my Bubby’s.”
Emily Ruane, managing editor, HuffPost Shopping
“I found a bunch of initial charms on Etsy even before my children were born. I was really obsessed with buying them for a while, even though I didn’t need them. After [my first daughter] Regina was born, I bought this silver sterling ‘R’ because I finally had a reason to. [The ‘A’ is for Angelica, my second daughter.] The Mickey Mouse came from Overstock when I went through a big phase of buying gold jewelry on that site — it’s like Amazon, really cheap, probably super unethical and not cool of me, but I was always looking for real gold that was kind of cheap. I used to have more stuff on this chain but I have these three charms for now. I want to add more to it.”
Kate Spencer, senior affiliate partnerships manager, Refinery29
“It started when my brother had a gold 818 pendant made for me for Christmas one year [to represent our hometown of Los Angeles’ area code]. It’s from New Top in Chinatown. I was given the emerald-cut diamond charm from Stone & Strand. My mom gave me a little Tiffany heart and a vintage, cross-like charm from her collection on separate occasions. I bought the little poppy flower charm from Catbird, which is the state flower of California.”
Jinnie Lee, writer (me)
“Charm jumbles solve the huge problem of what to do if you don’t have an extra chain for a pendant (which is often the case for me). Instead, you can default to a single chain and keep adding charms to it. I try to group charms that go together, usually by metal. I’ve got three day-to-day jumbles of mostly contemporary and vintage charms — although having written this piece, I now want to build an antique collection. As for which necklace jumble to wear, that depends on the outfit I’m wearing and if gold or silver would complement my look better. Also, the chain has to clear the neckline, either above or below it — nothing drives me crazier than when the charms are grazing the top of the neckline of whatever top I’m wearing.
“My oldest charm is the gold Gemini coin — there are baby photos of me wearing that thing and it’s got teeth marks. Other notable charms to me: the silver spiral, which is a souvenir I begged my mom to buy me when we traveled to Peru last year because I forgot my wallet (the Andean spiral is a symbol of regeneration); the sad face and the yin yang, which are two gold ditties I picked up at New Top; and a classic heart locket that’s currently empty but reserved for my spiritual north star River Phoenix.”
