Personalized jewelry is one of the biggest trends right now, with many people turning to these types of products to enjoy a one-of-a-kind gift that you won’t find anywhere else. With so many options available, customizing jewelry can be as exciting as it is affordable, and there are even options to engrave smaller accessories such as the types of charms that you’d place on a bracelet. In this article, we’ll be talking about engraving items as small as charms, and a few ideas about what can be added to them to really make them unique.
What Are Charms?
Charms are a unique type of accessory that come in a broad variety of shapes and styles, and can be made from a range of materials including silver, gold, wood, and steel to name just a few. They can be carved by hand, cast from molten metal, or shaped using machines and tools. When finished, they are often added to bracelets and necklaces, with charm bracelets being the most popular type of jewelry to find these accessories attached to.
Engraved charms on the other hand are the same as the above, but with individual features added to them, such as someone’s name, an important date, or a symbol that means something to the recipient. They are unique in the sense that if they are custom-made, no two will be the same, providing an entirely exclusive gift for the person that will be adding it to their bracelet.
What Types of Engraving Are There?
There are many different ways to engrave a charm, or a piece of jewelry in general. Some of the most popular include:
- Laser engraving – whereby a high-powered laser is used to etch a pattern, word, symbol or number onto the charm. This is one of the most precise methods of engraving, as it uses a machine to accurately etch the required design in a flawless manner
- Hand-engraving – which typically requires a spinning tool to eat away at a layer of the material and then create a design. Although not quite as accurate as when using a laser or a machine, some people feel that this only adds to the uniqueness of the design
- Sculpting – which requires one or more high-carbon steel tools that are used to carve into the material in much the same way as with hand-engraving, but without using any sort of electronic spinning tool or machinery and instead relying on the jeweler’s skill
- Etching – an advanced chemical process whereby a pattern is designed onto the material with acid and a stencil. This process is best left to the professionals and the chemicals used can sometimes be dangerous or toxic, but the results are often as eye-catching as they are resilient
There are several other methods of engraving a charm, but these are the most common and each brings its own individual approach. Although the results may appear similar, there are subtle differences and this is why when choosing a design for a customized charm, many people prefer to take their time to ensure that the ideal technique is used, and that the desired results can be achieved with minimal fuss.