Charms are one of the most fun and personal items of jewelry that you can wear. Whether you collect charms when you travel, or acquire charms that show your interests or your spirituality, these tiny treasures are a timeless way to express yourself. Specializing in charms, Meira T Designs puts a modern spin on this classic favorite.
Winning Necklace
While the company specializes in charms now, it started out as a diamond business, International Diamond Import, founded in 1976 by Tobie Tugendhaft, a Belgian diamond dealer and cleaver. He moved from Belgium to New York City, mounting and selling diamonds he purchased in India into Italian settings. But that all changed when his wife Meira, joined the business in 2002 and started to design jewelry, which led to the firm’s current name. When Meira first joined the company, her daughters entered a coin necklace with asymmetrical charms that she created into the JCK Jewelers Choice design competition. The necklace won first place.
Easy to Wear
The key to the success of Meira’s charm designs was how easy she made it to wear them. While the firm makes individual charms, the best sellers are the charm necklaces that are already made. “Charm bracelets and necklaces are meaningful to people,” says Nurielle Tugendhaft, principal and second generation in the family business. “People want to be able to see all of their charms. That’s part of why the necklaces are so popular. A charm necklace is more of a statement visually. Other people see you wearing a charm necklace and you can also see yourself wearing it when you look in the mirror.”
According to Nurielle, the already made necklaces and bracelets take a lot of the guess work out of wearing charms. “If you’re buying a loose charm, there’s more to think about. Will it fit the chain that you have? Will it block other charms? When you buy the charm necklace already made you don’t have to think about any of that.”
Something for Everyone
Meira T Designs offers numerous charms, including for earrings, with a variety of themes from initials to hearts, stars and colored gemstones or diamond discs as well as evil eyes, Hamsa hands and horseshoes. The motifs are filled with spiritual or sentimental meaning, but with a twist, such as a pearl with a gemstone Hamsa hand. “Meira is inspired by the world around her,” says Nurielle. “She travels a lot and what she sees triggers ideas. She likes color and has a very colorful personality.”
Design Your Own
While buying a pre-made charm necklace or bracelet is easy, it’s also fun to design your own and the company website offers that option. Customers choose their chain and then select the charms for the necklace or bracelet. It’s all done in real time and you can see how the charms look together on the chain.
Nurielle offers the following advice to people who are considering buying a charm. “Love what you are buying. Then consider what you already own and how the new piece will layer with your other jewelry. Charms are great to self-purchase and layer well with other pieces.”
By Amber Michelle
