Heart Jewelry Choices, Heart Jewellery Allure

.925 Silver Hot Pink Crystal Pave European Charm Bead Compatible with Biagi Bracelets

European charm bracelets are becoming increasingly popular world wide. Although they are called charm bracelets, they are different than the gold or sterling silver charm bracelet that we traditionally see: these are really modular bracelets made up of different beads threaded onto either a gold, silver or leather rope bracelet or anklet. There are many different brands of beads on the market such as Biagi beads, Pandora, Trollbeads and Chamilia to name just a few.

Carlo Biagi jewelry is just one company that sells the products to create a truly unique piece of jewelry, whether that is a bracelet, anklet or necklace. The wearer can create a piece that reflects her individual style and character by choosing from the huge inventory of beads the company has to offer.

Biagi Silver European Bead Starter Bracelet with Bead Clasp (8 inches)

Just like traditional “dangly” charms there are beads that represent special occasions such as graduation, wedding, birthday or to celebrate a birth, together with others depicting hobbies, vocations, love and anything else you can think of. But, unlike traditional charms bracelets that don’t tend to have a lot of brightly colored charms, there are lots of brightly colored Murano glass beads and Swarovski crystal beads to choose from to add an extra dimension to the bracelet.

Another feature of Biagi beads is the introduction of what they call charm carriers. These are beads with a hoop that allows you to attach a traditional dangly charm with a lobster claw to your European bracelet. The company sells a selection of these charms so you can have a truly authentic Biagi bead bracelet or you can choose charms from other sources as long as they have a lobster claw clasp to fasten them to the charm carrier.

But Biagi jewelry was not the originator of the European charm bracelet. Trollbeads were the first to create these bead bracelets and the name came from the fact that the original ones resembled troll faces (trolls feature a lot in Scandinavian folklore).

4 Murano Beads with Solid Sterling Silver Core for European Charm Bracelet

Their beads are handcrafted and depict such diverse subjects as mythology, nature, fairy tales and love. They too use precious metals, gemstones, pearls glass and crystals in their designs.

Other popular brands of European charm bracelets are Pandora and Chamilia. Like Biagi and Trollbeads they also offer a huge range of different beads to choose from whether they are for a young girl, a teen, a Mom or a Grandma.

Like traditional jewelry such as a gold or sterling silver charm bracelet these can be built up over time making them an ideal gift as friends and family can add to them over time. If you choose one of the designer brands, the basic bracelet and charms will carry the name of the company on it so you know that what you are getting is authentic. But you don’t have to stick with beads from one specific designer to create a bracelet as most of them will fit each other’s, making them truly flexible.

As with other designer products, buying the real thing can be beyond some people’s budget. If this is the case but you really like these bracelets then don’t worry as there are lots of less expensive versions available and most of the beads are compatible with the more expensive versions. This also means that you can mix and match designer and non designer beads depending on your budget and choice of charms.

Pandora Charm Compatible Swarovski Crystal Birthstone Bead Fits Pandora Bracelet

The wearing of charms has been around for centuries and the fashion for charm bracelets has never really fully faded away since Queen Victoria popularized them in the 1800s. As with lots of jewelry trends, the styles have changed over time, hence the growing popularity of the European and Italian charm bracelets over the last few years. With the increasing number of charm designs around and the fact that a charm bracelet is such a customizable piece of jewelry I think that this is, like heart jewelry, one item of jewelry that will never fully go out of fashion.

14k White Gold Diamond Heart Ring (1/10 cttw, H-I Color, I2 Clarity), Size 7

Have you ever been stuck for a unique gift idea for those special days such as an anniversary, birthday, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day for the special woman in your life?  So why not give her a beautiful piece of  heart jewelry?  Because heart jewelry is so versatile, it can be worn everyday for any situation, whether that is popping to the grocery store, going to work, attending a swanky party or meeting friends for lunch, so it makes the ideal present.

On your next wedding anniversary a heart pendant necklace would make a perfect gift for your wife.  Gold and sterling silver are both fine choices.  Not only will it show her how much she still means to you but she will be able to wear it every day and it will remind her of the special relationship you two share.  If you get it engraved with a special message personal to you both, that will be  a demonstration to her of all the time and thought you have put into choosing a special gift for her – and, although you don’t perhaps tell her as often as she would like, how much you love her.  Every time she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror or touches her neck it will bring a smile to her face as she thinks of you and remembers special times you have shared and continue to share.

There are many occasions on which to give a piece of heart jewelry to your daughter and a delicate heart bracelet would be appropriate for any of them.  The first one that springs to mind is her birth and a heart bracelet with her date of birth and her birthstone on it is something she can treasure forever.  Or how about a silver charm bracelet for her “sweet sixteen” birthday?  When she is all dressed up to go to her prom a gold heart bracelet to complement the gorgeous dress she is wearing will make her truly feel like a princess.  Or giving her a heart bracelet on her graduation day will show her how proud you are of her achievements.

Valentine’s Day is traditionally the time that lovers want to express their feelings for their significant other, obviously with a gift that symbolizes love – whether that is red roses, heart shaped candy or perhaps a cute soft toy.  Giving your loved one an open heart ring would convey in a very clear way exactly how much you love her.  For the guy who wants to let his girlfriend know he is committed to her but not yet ready to get engaged, a heart shaped ring given as a promise ring would leave her in no doubt of his fidelity.

On Mother’s Day we all sometimes struggle to think of that special something for the best Mom in the world.  If you ask her what she wants she will frequently say that there is nothing she needs so, often, we search the stores for a sweater or top or purse that we think she might like.  Getting her a piece of heart jewelry will surely put a smile on her face and show her just how much you love her.  A silver heart locket engraved with a special message and containing a family photograph is something she will not only treasure forever but will proudly show off to her friends.

For birthdays and Christmas you can’t go wrong if you choose to give heart jewelry, especially for a close friend.  There are lots of different pieces in the stores but a pair of silver heart earrings will show your feelings for her as a friend and you can be sure they will complement the other jewelry in her collection.  Whether she prefers stud earrings, hoops or dangly styles there are lots of designs to choose from.

So no matter what the occasion or the age of the recipient, if you choose a piece of heart jewelry it will show your wife, daughter, girlfriend, Mom or close friend how much they mean to you.

Following on from my previous posts about heart jewelry for men and it not being something anyone can see becoming fashionable any time soon, because it would look silly or girlie on them, I decided to have some fun and ask family members and friends which males they would like to see being made to wear say heart shaped earrings, a heart ring, heart pendants or other heart jewelry to make them look ridiculous and a laughing stock.

Most of the people I asked could come up with someone they wanted to look stupid without too much thought and not all of them chose celebrities or people in the public eye.  For instance, one of the people, who used to work for one of big five consulting firms, chose as their candidate one of the partners in the firm.  This guy was a typical little man with a big ego “puffed up and full of his own self importance”.  He should be made to wear heart shaped earrings because he was an “obnoxious twerp who deserved to be made to look silly”.  Knowing the commentator as I do, it must have been entertaining to see the working relationship that the two had!

At the time I did this survey the World Cup was in full swing and the England team was playing particularly badly and without any enthusiasm for winning a match.  My husband is a big soccer fan and was absolutely disgusted with his team’s performance and so he chose the whole of the England football squad to wear heart earrings, heart bracelets, heart rings, and necklaces.  His reasoning was that they played like a bunch of girls and so they deserved to be made to look like girls.  While I agree that they were anything like the macho men they think they are, I thought his comments were cruel and unfair to women!

Recently there have been surveys done that have found that couples have a sixth sense and often know what the other is thinking and have similar ideas.  This proved true when I was talking to friends and family even though I spoke to them separately.  One of the couples independently chose the Portuguese soccer star Cristiano Renaldo and they would both like to see him wearing heart earrings.  The husband said that he chose Renaldo because he is so arrogant and he wants him to look stupid.  His wife’s reasoning was that Renaldo is so conceited and full of himself.

Yet another couple chose Simon Cowell of American Idol fame and again they both picked the same item of jewelry – a heart necklace.  The lady said she would like to see him wearing a big heart medallion as the heart shape and its symbolism is the polar opposite of him because he comes across as quite heartless.  On the other hand the guy chose the heart necklace for Simon Cowell because he’d look ridiculous and because he is so in love with himself.

As I said earlier, not all of the respondents picked famous people to nominate.  One guy selected one of his neighbors who he would like to see with big heart shaped hoop earrings or a big heart necklace because he is such a big homophobe.  On  the other hand, another of the guys wanted his brother to wear heart rings “because he’d look funny and silly so I could laugh at him and he’d be embarrassed”.  Obviously some sibling rivalry there!

I was rather surprised that only one politician was on the list.  This was Jack Straw, a British Labour Party MP and former Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Justice Minister. The person who suggested him also chose an unusual piece of heart jewelry – a tiara with diamonds on it.  When asked why they would like to see this particular Member of Parliament wearing this the answer was, and I quote, “To make him look like a complete fool as everything he says is wrong and he’s a complete waste of space”.  Not much love lost there then!

My own choice would be any number of the car salesmen I have come across over the years (both in the USA and the UK) who even in this day and age think that women have no knowledge of what they are talking about when it comes to buying a car.  There was one occasion when the salesman actually told me to come back with my husband when I asked to go on a test drive!  I would like to see these guys wearing the biggest, flashiest, vulgar pieces of heart jewelry so that they can look as stupid as they sound when they come out with sexist comments.

So have some fun of your own and think about which male celebrity, politician or work colleague you would like to see looking ridiculous wearing heart shaped earrings or any other item of heart jewelry.

In a recent post I wrote about the increasing trend for celebrity men to have both their ears pierced and to wear diamond stud earrings. Recently I saw Jerry Rice on the TV, when his shirt was being retired, and he was wearing a pair of fairly large hoop earrings and once again my views on men wearing earrings were brought to the fore.  I have already said that maybe my views were perhaps outdated and not shared by the younger generation and even people of my own age, so I decided to find out if this really was the case by asking my friends, family and their children what they thought about men wearing jewelry, earrings in particular.  In particular, could they ever see a time when men would choose to wear heart jewelry? The ages of those I asked ranged from early teens to middle age and of both sexes.

The responses I got from the teenagers really surprised me as I thought maybe it was a generational thing and that I was no longer up with current trends and fashions. My friend’s thirteen year old daughter, the youngest of the group and very into fashion and modern trends, wrinkled her nose and said that she thought earrings on men were weird and she didn’t like them.  She suggested that some men’s jewelry was acceptable (a gold chain, an identity bracelet, a wedding ring and watch maybe) but nothing flashy or vulgar and certainly not any heart jewelry.

Another friend’s fifteen year old son said that “jewelry doesn’t look very good on men”. The only piece that he thinks is acceptable for a man is a watch and he believes that earrings look stupid, especially the silver heart earrings that he has seen!

An older teenage girl was more accepting of men wearing some form of jewelry but she said that it would have to be very subtle and it would depend on the man wearing it.  Although not totally against men having pierced ears, she was not keen on the idea of having both ears done or the wearing of diamond studs.  She laughed at the idea of men sporting a heart necklace or heart earrings but was more accepting of a pair of heart cuff links such as the open heart design because they are not overtly heart shaped.

Moving on to the next age group, twenty to thirty year olds, their answers were very similar to those of the teens. One of the guys said that lots of men look ridiculous in jewelry of any kind although he did go on to say that some guys do look okay with two ears pierced.  He went on to say that men’s jewelry pieces should be simple such as a wedding band, a simple chain or cuff links.  On the subject of heart jewelry his comments were “I’ve never seen heart jewelry on a man or for a man and I don’t see it becoming fashionable or being something that men would wear”.

Yet another of the guys was not a fan of men’s jewelry apart from wedding ring, maybe a pinky ring and cuff links.  He too could not imagine heart shaped jewelry becoming fashionable for guys especially not heart earrings.  The only piece of heart jewelry he could ever see himself wearing would be a pair of cuff links if somebody bought them for him.

The ladies in this age group were equally not keen to see men wearing earrings. As one of them put it: “Men shouldn’t wear earrings not even celebrities. No guy looks goods in these”. They also agreed that if men were to wear jewelry it needed to be minimal and understated not big and chunky perhaps a simple ring or a thread bracelet.  And in their view “there should be no hearts whatsoever on men’s jewelry”.

One of my good friends who is very into the latest fashion trends surprised me when she said that she hated men with pierced ears especially if both of them were pierced this – the word she used to describe it was “chavvy”.  She was also not keen on jewelry for men generally and certainly not heart jewelry which would be far too effeminate.

Two other friends (married to each other but asked at different times) shared similar opinions on the idea of men wearing jewelry.  Both were very much against the idea of guys having their ears pierced and while the wife said that it was okay for men to wear a wedding ring or watch her husband said that any sort of jewelry on a man was “girlie”.  One thing they both agreed on was that heart jewelry was feminine and definitely not for men.

Lastly I asked my husband and his best friend their thoughts on the subject of men’s jewelry and whether they would ever wear heart jewelry.  My husband’s reaction to the idea of heart jewelry for men was that it would be a contradiction as these designs are feminine and seen as “soppy” rather than macho and masculine.  When it comes to other jewelry items for men he is very much a traditionalist and is okay with signet rings, wedding rings, watches and cuff links but thinks that chains, earrings and bracelets are worn by men to show off.  In his words “fine if they want to wear them but I think they look silly”.

His friend had similar things to say about the wearing of jewelry by men suggesting that it was “used as a status symbol and as a way to attract women”.  The wearing of a gold medallion by a man, he implied, is a peacock type thing displaying his finery to attract the opposite sex.  Unlike most of the other men he thought that there was certainly one piece of heart jewelry that should be available for men to wear, a cheating heart pendant for guys who are unfaithful to their partners!

So, if my friends’ views are anything to go by it doesn’t look like heart jewelry and in particular silver heart earrings will become a fashion accessory for men any time soon.  However, if you had asked me a few years ago if guys would be wearing diamond studs in both of their ears I would have said I don’t think so.  Shows how much I know doesn’t it?