Nomination and other Italian link bracelets

Two people contacted me yesterday asking about Nomination bracelets, after I mentioned them in a post.

Italian charm bracelets (the largest company is Nomination) are not well-known in all countries, but you can easily find them online (the official site and Etsy are two good places to start). I was given my first bracelet and my first two charms (a South African flag and a Leo star sign) by my bonus mum 13 years ago. Since then I have been gifted and bought enough charms to fill four bracelets.

Many charm bracelets incorporate dangly charms on a link bracelet. Others, like Pandora, have charms which slide onto a round bracelet.

Italian charm bracelets bracelets are somewhat different in that the bracelets are stretchy and the charms sit flat against your arm. You can also buy Italian charm link watches.The bracelets and charms come in different widths and colours.

You can use a tool to add and remove them, but once you get the hang of it, you can just use your fingers. Each time you add a charm, you remove a blank link. Once your bracelet is full, you then have another blank one to gift to a loved one, or fill.

You can also find some really nice off-brand sites that can engrave and reproduce photographs onto your charms.

I ususally wear one or two bracelets at a time. I mix up the themes and colours now and then but I am happy with my present arrangement. My charms are:

1. a red rose
2. a violet
3. a South African flag (I was born there)
4. an Irish flag (my father was Irish so I have been a citizen from birth)
5. a Swedish flag (I live here)
6. a swimmer (my favourite sport)
7. a car (my surname is Carr)
8. a graduation cap
9. a computer (I used to fix them for a living)
10. a book (I love to read and write)
11. a pen (I love to write)
12. a Cancer (my star sign – I am on the cusp of Leo and Cancer)
13. a Leo (see above)
14. a giraffe (I love going on safari)
15. a fern (I often stay at a fern plantation in South Africa)
16. two cat charms (I love cats)
17. ‘I love RU'(my alma mater was Rhodes Universty, known as RU)
18. ‘be happy ‘(my motto)
19. a handbag
20. ‘shop’
21. an EU flag
22. a butterfly
23. a lapis lazuli
24. a ruby (my birthstone)
25. a cameo (I love cameos)
26. a J (my initial)
27. a pair of jeans (my favourite item of clothing)
28. a vuvuzela (always heard at South African sporting events)
29. an apple (my favourite fruit)
30. a toadstool (I love them)
31. a black diamond (I love them)
32. dice
33. a snowflake (because I live in Sweden)
34. a bumble bee ( I love bumble bees because they aren’t able to fly but they do it anyway)
35. a plane (I travel a lot)
36. an @ sign (I worked with email from the very beginning)
37. claddagh
38. ‘joy'(my middle name)
39. a cup of tea (I love tea)
40. 50 (got it when I turned 50)
41. a squirrel (I love squirrels)
42. hope (very important in life)
43. a diamond (I love them!)
44. a reindeer (because I live in Sweden)
45. a smiley (I love them)
46. a red AIDS ribbon (very important cause)
47. a pink breast cancer ribbon (very important cause)
48. a shell (I love the beach)
49. happy (because I am)
50. a peace sign (I love them)
51. a German flag (my mother was German)
52. a paw print (I love animals)
53. Eiffel Tower (my favourite landmark)
54. A ‘C’ (my surname)
55. I love SA
56. an amethyst