Treasured possessions: my charm necklace

I thought I’d start a series of posts, introducing you to a couple of my treasured possessions. Rather than posts that encourage rabid consumerism (guilty as charged), I want this series to be a bit less ‘BUY! BUY! BUY!’ and more ‘appreciate what you’ve already got young lady.’

So, here is the tale of my treasured charm necklace. It didn’t start off as a charm necklace but it has grown into a little cluster of talismans, little tokens of love, from people who are not with me everyday.

The Jade Buddha was a 12th birthday present from my sister. We were spending 4 months in Hong Kong and she chose it at Stanley market, I think. That little slither of crudely carved stone has so many happy memories of that summer wrapped up in it, plus a huge dose of sisterly love. Very precious.

The bird, and chain itself, were a birthday gift from my beautiful friend Tash. We met as editors in our late-Twenties; she the traffic stopping, Hungarian-cum-Aussie, girl-about-town and me the pale, curvy, 28-going-on-48 married Welshie. It shouldn’t have worked but by god it did. Saturdays were spent mooching on Portobello (where we found this little chap), weeks were spent on far-flung assignments to Morocco and the Maldives… then she went and broken by heart by moving back to Sydney, as is the wont of most Antipodeans when they fall in love and want to settle down. Still, I have my little bird charm; not much a substitute for my partner in crime but still. I only have to clutch it and I’m back skinny dipping in the Indian Ocean after one too many mojitos, which is no bad thing.

The little disc arrived here via my bracelet from Merci Maman. The cord has long since fall apart but the sterling silver disc is engraved ‘Benedict & Pip’ (husband and Country Bebe respectively), then on the reverse ‘for you are my home’, a little token to our newly founded family unit for when I am away from my men.

Finally, the biggy. Both in weight and emotional attachment. Given to my father (a silversmith) by my mother and then me on the morning of my wedding, it is a solid hunk of silver hallmarked with the year that my parents met and fell in love. I guess sentimentality must run in the genes…

I know I said this wasn’t a post to inspire you to buy, but as I was writing this post the wonderful ladies at Astley Clarke dropped me a line about their clever new charm builder service (this isn’t a sponsored post – just a happy coincidence and a brand I am happy to champion):

As a person who needs to ‘visualise’ something before I’m sold, this is ideal. You can choose your chain then fiddle about endlessly, dragging and dropping your chosen charms onto the chain – I love the dainty little lockets and semi precious stones, but there are more traditional symbolic emblems (wishbone, four-leaf clover) for traditionalists, too.

If you are not familiar with the treasure trove of sparkles that is Astley Clarke, check it out (it’s online here and has concessions in Selfridges and Harrods). I bought my much loved Monica Vinader Fiji bracelet there and love their edit of hot designers (Alex Monroe, Pippa Small, Solange Azagury-Partridge) alongside their own in-house designs. As the daughter of a jeweller and silversmith, I am passionate about British jewellery design and this London-based, modern studio is at the top of it’s game in my book.