What to do with Mom’s old charms?

[Anonymous]

My mom gave me the charms off her charm bracelet. The pieces are all very sentimental to her, such as a pendant from her college (she was the first in her family to go to college), my grandfather’s NYC firefighter medallion, and a pendant from my grandmother’s high school graduation in 1932, among many other pieces.

They’re really heavy yellow gold and I don’t wear bracelets at all, much less heavy dangly pieces. My children have no interest in them at all, either.

What do you do with sentimental jewelry that you/your children have no interest in wearing? I could take a few very special pieces and wear them on a chain necklace…and just save the rest, kicking the can down the road for my kids to decide

[Anonymous]

Seems like these things don't take up much room. I would document what these pieces are in your family's history and then just pass them on when you kids are older. If they don't see any value then, there is nothing for you to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Make Christmas ornament out of them. Or get a little wire 'chandelier' and hang them on it. Or get a thick gold chain and attach them as a necklace.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like these things don't take up much room. I would document what these pieces are in your family's history and then just pass them on when you kids are older. If they don't see any value then, there is nothing for you to worry about.

This. I have my MIL's old charms in a jewelry box, with her watch that was engraved to her by her parents. Maybe no one wants to wear them, but they're priceless family heirlooms that tell a story which might be lost otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like these things don't take up much room. I would document what these pieces are in your family's history and then just pass them on when you kids are older. If they don't see any value then, there is nothing for you to worry about.

The documenting is key! My mom always said she would do this before she died, but she didn’t have time. Now I have some jewelry from multiple generations with symbols I don’t recognize and I breaks my heart the meaning might be lost.

[Anonymous]

My sister made a necklace out of my mom’s.

[Anonymous]

I’m jealous! All of my inherited charm bracelets are silver and I can’t wear silver. I’ll trade you for gold.

I think the necklace idea is great. It’s easier to wear, less noisy and likely to get caught on things, and could be striking against a simple sweater or blouse under a suit.

[Anonymous]

I agree that these are the perfect sort of family momento to keep, as they take up little space and are pretty unique.
Another idea is to mount them on velvet and frame them. My mom did this with the broken pocket watches from her grandparents, and it makes an interesting decor.

I have my charm bracelet from when I was a kid, full of things like a miniature golden gate bridge, miniature statute of liberty, etc. I'm not sure what to do with them, but they are so cute. In a hundred years maybe all these things will have collapsed due to lack of infrastructure support, and my great-grandkids will think them miraculous memories of a bygone era.