This little stand at the Flea started the trend. You can barely turn around without seeing a chunky funky charm necklace, and you have Brooklyn Charm to thank. I love anything customized so I recently took a trip to their Greenpoint storefront to make some pieces of my own. While the lines used to be crazy, there are enough people doing similar things (pop-up bars abound) that I was able to walk right in and have my pieces turned around in just 30 minutes after I provided my materials. Don’t get me wrong; it was still super busy, but I wasn’t turned away because they were at capacity.
When you walk in, you’re given a tray and order form. Charms range in price from $1-$15 with most at about the $5-$7 range. Every time you pick up a charm, you write it down on your form and note if you want the charms hung as a cluster (all the charms gathered together at the bottom where they can slide around the chain) or fixed (one charm each on a specific link of the chain). Once you’ve got all your materials, you take it to the register, laid out in the order you’d like them positioned. Then just take a little walk around the neighborhood (where there happen to be great bookstores, wine bars, coffee shops, and vintage shopping – twist my arm why dontcha) while they put your jewelry together. It couldn’t have been easier and when I had any questions, the staff was more than happy to jump right in and help.
My only qualm is that everything is costume quality. On one hand, that means the cost of your jewelry will be relatively low; on the other, it will tarnish. I’m at the stage where I prefer fewer pieces of high quality jewelry and would have been willing to spend a little more for chains that were made with sterling silver or gold filled.
I am so happy with how my jewelry came out! I went with one necklace and one bracelet covering both gold and silver bases. I’d love to go back and get one that’s a pearl chain with a charm. It’s obvious that this isn’t fine jewelry so have fun with it! My total was just over $100 and I came home with two very personal pieces. I’ve got charms that represent V (the rocketship, moon), some that represent my hobbies/loves (cheese, travel, new york, camera, nature), and some that represent luck or protection of sorts (hamsa, evil eye, ace). They’re meaningful and a bit cheeky, just like me.
Peaches to Apples 