Meaningful charm bracelets: Tell a story with your jewelry

A charm bracelet can be a thoughtful gift for Mother’s Day. Historically, bracelets have been linked to motherhood and family.

Queen Victoria, who made family and domesticity an important part of her image, wore a bracelet with lockets that held miniature pictures of her family. She would also give charms as gifts.

Some modern jewelers sell charms for Mother’s Day gifts customized with children’s names, initials or birthstones. Of course, charm bracelets are never limited to one occasion.

Look at the 14K gold bracelet shown here, which sold at Sloans & Kenyon for $1,206. It has 21 charms made of materials like gold, enamel and coral.

There appears to be an eclectic mix of themes, including several number charms, dogs, insects, a black-and-white Mickey Mouse and a Buddha statue.

What does it say about its previous owner? Were some of the charms travel souvenirs? Were others gifts?

Did any of them mark certain occasions? Maybe the number charms were lucky numbers; there is also a “Touch Wood” charm.

Somehow, I ended up with a soup/salad plate marked as follows: “Theodore Haviland/France/Expressly made by Theodore Haviland/Limoges/France/for/Canadian National Railways.” I don’t suppose it’s worth anything by itself. Just curious.

Theodore Haviland was one of the sons of David Haviland, who started the Haviland porcelain firm in Limoges, France, in the 1840s. Theodore opened his own company in 1893. The mark on your plate was used from about 1903 to the 1920s.

Individual Haviland plates are usually worth about $20 or less, unless they have an especially rare pattern. Railroad china, however, is usually worth more. A Theodore Haviland plate made for the Canadian National Railways sold at a recent auction for $50.

Railroad memorabilia can sell for high prices. Items like tableware and silverware, which were also sold at gift shops, are associated with dining cars and luxury travel, making them especially desirable.

If you would like to learn more about railroad china, a railroadiana collector’s club like the Railroadiana Collectors Association Inc. — railroadcollectors.org — will have resources.

To learn more about your plate, the Canadian National Railways Historical Association at cnrha.ca has more information on the history of the Canadian National Railways.

Tip: Hummel figurines should be cleaned by washing in liquid detergent and water, half and half. Never put them in the dishwasher.

Current Prices

Advertising, dispenser, Alka-Seltzer, Be Wise Alkalize, blue, side wheel, 14 inches, $100.

Purse, mesh, silver, enamel frame, white ground, pink roses, blue bows, green leaves, chain handle, fringe base, 6 x 4 inches, $150.

Fireplace, andirons, brass, large sunflower finial, trestle base, coiled feet, Aesthetic Movement, England, late 1800s, 11 inches, $2,050.