Your Grandmother's Jewelry Box Already Contains This Trending Statement Piece

Charm bracelets, once relegated to the sentimental jewelry box of our grandmothers, are making a dazzling comeback, and the South is at the epicenter of this nostalgic trend. Here, a new generation of charm-obsessed women is discovering the joy of collecting meaningful trinkets, and companies like Charleston’s HART and Atlanta’s It’s Especially Lucky are leading the charge. Each offers unique charms and enchanting shopping experiences that include interactive charm bars where women are said to make friends as they dig through buckets of amulets. These brands have tapped into the desire for personalized jewelry, creating a community around charm collecting, and transforming the act of choosing charms into a fun, social event. 

Yasmin Rahimi, owner of It’s Especially Lucky, started her charm business in 2018 as a University of Georgia college student. She recalls interning with Saks corporate in New York City and being completely smitten with the jewelry department. “What initially piqued my interest was that I wanted classy evil eye jewelry, but it was either incredibly expensive or poor quality. I wanted one that was nice, but also something that I could afford as a college student. That's when I started buying charms,” she says. She later started offering multi-charm necklaces, but she felt something was missing from the process, so she added a charm bar to her website and in-person pop-ups. “People enjoy having creative input. Once you start picking charms, it just flows. I've never seen a bad combination of charms because when you hear why someone picked the charms they picked, it just makes sense,” she says. 

Hart Hagerty, the visionary behind HART, agrees, “Charm jewelry is an emotional purchase because you're telling your story. I think people are craving opportunities to slow down and reflect on their values and build something meaningful; it's not just a pretty necklace.” 

HART has two locations: one in Charleston and another in Nashville, and the hallmark of each store is the playful charm bar. “It's rare that a woman will come in by herself. She usually brings a friend or her daughter, or it's a girls' weekend, or it's some local moms who took the afternoon off. At the core, it's a community experience that people want to share with each other,” she says. 

Rahimi agrees and says, “For me, it's like healing that inner child where you were never allowed to touch anything at stores, but with the charm bar, you're digging for gold.” She says her favorite part of her job includes watching women bond. “Everyone becomes friends, and they start helping each other to find the charms that they have their eye on.” 

Why Charm Jewelry Is Making a Comeback

So why is charm jewelry making a comeback now? What is it about the world that makes people crave these sentimental statement pieces? “I think people feel safe in nostalgia, and there's something very nostalgic about charms. They reflect who you are, and I think that people feel a sense of security in that,” says Hagerty. 

And let’s be honest: They’re also just plain fun. “It's kind of bananas that you get to walk around with this jingle jangle. You're not taking yourself too seriously because there's a playfulness about it,” Hagerty explains. 

Dopamine dressing, a buzzy term defined as selecting fashion styles that bring you joy and boost your mood, is trending and Rahimi says it’s particularly noticeable in the charm business. “We've been crawling out of that minimalistic aesthetic in recent years. People are embracing their eccentric style and are stepping out of their comfort zone,” she says. “It's dressing with your own personality in mind.” 

Hagerty concurs, “The weirder, the better; the funkier, the better. My necklace is probably very different than your necklace, and we want it that way. People can tap into their own vibe where no one looks the same.” She also credits the rise of our casual culture, especially in daily dressing. “When people are wearing boyfriend jeans and a button-down a charm necklace makes them feel a little fancy and put together like they put in effort,” she says.

As the return of charm jewelry continues to press on, both Rahimi and Hagerty say we will see traditional timelessness trending. “Pearls are going to keep growing. Like many of us, I grew up seeing my grandmother wearing her simple, white string of pearls, and people are going to be embracing them, especially the bigger freshwater and baroque pearls,” Rahimi says. Among their chain offerings, It’s Especially Lucky has a pearl option for that extra dose of femininity. 

“Every time I design something, I ask myself if I wore this in 10 years, would it still feel cool? That's my litmus test,” says Hagerty. HART’s latest release includes a vesta case, inspired by a popular 1800s design. Like those of yesteryear, the Hart’s version will open, providing a small home for a piece of paper. “We invite people a write down a goal, a mantra, or a love note and stick it inside. Whatever lights you up, carry that around,” she says. 

If you’re ready to build your own charm jewelry, do some self-reflection and maybe even a little digging, too. “If you want to hunt through your grandmother's jewelry box for charms, bring them on in. We would love to add one of those pieces to your necklace,” says Hagerty. How charming!