In 1889, Tiffany and Co. introduced their first charm bracelet. It was a designed link bracelet with a single heart dangling from it, a bracelet which is an iconic symbol for Tiffany today. Despite the Great Depression, during the 1920s and 1930s platinum and diamonds were introduced to charm bracelet manufacturing.

Soldiers returning home after WWII brought home trinkets made by craftsmen local to the area where they were stationed to give to loved ones.

American teenagers in the 1950s and early 1960s collected charms to record the events in their lives.  Screen icons like Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Sophia Loren and Natalie Wood helped to fuel the interest and popularity of charm bracelets.   Taylor wore charm bracelets as a child and throughout her life including one in the 1956 film, Giant.  Taylor's charm bracelet collection included gifts from directors and mementos from Richard Burton.  Grace Kelly wore a chunky multi-pearl charm bracelet as the character, Lisa Fremont in Alfred Hitchcock's film, Rear Window. After the film was released, the bracelet was copied and women purchased it at a variety of price levels. 

Although interest and production waned through the latter part of the 20th century there was a resurgence of popularity after 2000 and collectors eagerly sought out vintage charms.  

While charms have never really gone out of fashion, they tend to sometimes be temporarily retired to jewelry boxes and neglected for a while by fashion editors.  However, it is never long before someone glamourous is pictured in the social pages or featured in a magazine wearing a bracelet of beautiful charms and suddenly they are trendy, once again.

Throughout history film stars and fashionistas have been photographed wearing cherished charms with jewelry designers quickly making similar creations available to the rest of us.  The most celebrated has been a gold charm bracelet worn by Elizabeth Taylor that charted the milestones of her extraordinary life.  It includes a locket which opens to reveal four medallions, each inscribed with the name and date of birth of her children.  There is an engraved clapperboard commemorating her 1967 film, The Taming of the Shrew.  This bracelet was sold at Christie's auction in December 2011 for $326,500.  One of Taylor's most important sentimental pieces of jewelry was given to her by her longtime friend, the famed costume designer Edith Head.  The two women worked together on numerous films, building a closeness that went beyond a mere working relationship.  Elizabeth thought of Edith as a second mother and Edith, in turn, took Taylor under her wing.  When Edith passed she bequeathed Taylor her ivory, turn-of-the-century Victorian theatre-ticket-charm necklace.

Following Taylor's passing in 2011, Christie's put her sprawling jewelry collection on the auction block.  It garnered a total of nearly $116 million.  

Charm bracelets can symbolize almost any interest, passion, or place and express the essence of their wearer like no other piece of jewelry.  

Even First Lady, Mamie Eisenhower was the embodiment of the optimism of the 1950s.  She was cheerful, lively and fashionable in mink stoles, fitted hats, dresses and charm bracelets which included one that commemorated her life as First Lady and her marriage to President Eisenhower.  The charm bracelet sold at Christie's in November 2017.

 

Today, while luxury jewelers sell many styles of charm bracelets in sterling silver and gold, Pandora dominates the market with worldwide sales reaching $3.5 billion in 2021.