One of my earliest memories is of me spending hours looking at my Mum's charm bracelet. I remember it as a big, chunky, treasure of silver which used to jangle a lot. I would love looking at all the tiny details on each individual charm and hearing my Mum tell me the story behind it- where the charm was bought and for what occasion. Some of the charms opened- she was bought a little church one when she got married, which opened to reveal a tiny little silver bride and groom inside. I loved it- and it still sits in my Mum's jewellery box. It's full of stories and memories, and paints a picture of my Mum's personality and life in tiny little silver pendants.
I was bought a charm bracelet for my 20th birthday and it was soon filled with little charms that summed me up perfectly. It's a beautiful thing and whilst I don't wear it often in fear of losing some of them, I would be devastated if I ever lost it. I love that it is unique to me, the places I've been, the things I love and find funny. There's a little camera, artist pallet and handcuffs (bought before I joined the Police I might add!); there's also a spider on a web to mark my insane fear of spiders and a pumpkin containing a tiny mouse, because of my love for Halloween and Tim Burton. There's a squirrel (Uni chums will get this), a graduation charm, a pirate flag, a chequered flag for my love of motor racing and a little Shakespeare as people who know me well know I love Stratford Upon Avon on a sunny day in Summer. There are charms from the Peaks, Lakes and Cornwall denoting some of my favourite places in the UK. There is also a butterfly- a symbol for something that only about three people in my life know about. My old bracelet is shown below in the first two pictures.
However, this year for my thirtieth, my work colleagues clubbed together to get me a new charm bracelet- one of the new Pandora charm bracelets, shown in contrast in the last picture.
The style of these bracelets are far more commercial and slightly less unique; Pandora shops are all the same, carrying the same stock and there's no little pirate ships or pumpkins- the old style charms you can pick up from quirky little jewellers and you can always find ones you've never seen before, even now, if you know where to look. I actually love that I've been bought a new one to start a new chapter. Perhaps this one will be filled more steadily, and while the charms may be slightly less unique, each one will have a meaning as to when they were bought, by whom etc. More subtle maybe, more understated as I guess my thirties may be- and that's no bad thing either!
Here's to a new chapter of charms. :)
2 comments:
Squirrel! I love the contrast of your two bracelets. I keep meaning to get a few more charms for mine but always forget. X
:-) I think they're so unique to the person. I really hope my Mum leaves hers to me in her will, because I have so many memories of it from my childhood. xx
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