Designing a charm necklace, one tap at a time

To design your own charm necklace, choose a chain, tap charms to add them, drag them into place, then switch to On model to see the piece worn. In our builder the total updates with every change, and each necklace is made to order at our Los Angeles bench in 2 to 4 weeks.

It begins with a bare chain on a pale ground. The preview sits on the left, with Flatlay and On model side by side. The choices sit on the right, and along the bottom runs a bar with the total, Save design and Share. We walked through it on a computer on 19 October 2026, and this is what we found, screen by screen.

The chain

Open Design your own and choose Design a necklace. The opening decision is the chain itself: oval, paperclip, circle, ball, rolo or box, all compared in which chain is best for charms. Then comes the weight of the link. Petite is fine and delicate, Standard is the everyday weight, and Jumbo is bold.

After that, the gold, in 14K or 18K and in yellow, rose or white, and the length, at 16, 20 or 24 inches. Longer lengths sit lower on the chest. Each button shows its price, and the picture changes as you tap, so you see the chain thicken or lengthen before you have committed to anything.

A charm

Scroll to Charms & Medallions and tap Choose your charms or Choose your medallions. There are 47 charms and 26 medallions, each in Small, Medium or Large. Tap one and it appears on the chain, and the total rises by its price. As of 19 October 2026, a Petite oval chain at 16 inches in 14K yellow gold is $635. Add a Small Glittering Hamsa Charm at $850 and the total reads $1,485.

Its place

Drag the charm along the chain in the Flatlay view; a small hint on screen suggests it. The position is kept in the page link, so the arrangement you settle on is the one you can send to someone else. This is the moment a design stops being a list of parts and starts to look like yours: a hamsa a little off center, a medallion sitting low at the drop.

Size and color

Tap a charm on the piece and a small panel opens, offering yellow, rose or white, a size, and 14K or 18K. Charms follow the chain's color to begin with, and you can change any one of them. Moving the hamsa from Small to Medium takes the same total to $2,015, and Large takes it to $2,488, as of 19 October 2026. Charm prices follow the daily gold rate and are fixed the moment you order. The arithmetic is laid out in how much a custom solid gold charm necklace costs.

On a model

Now look at the On model view, where the same piece hangs at a model's neck, and use the magnifier to look closer. The page itself calls the preview a creative visualization, and that is the right way to treat it: a guide for judging length, balance, spacing and gold color. It is not a photograph of your finished piece, and it cannot show weight. We confirm every detail with you after you order. What a try-on can and cannot tell you is set out in virtual try-on for necklaces and bracelets, and how a necklace will look on you helps with length.

A note for the bench

If you want something engraved, or a charm placed in a particular spot, write it in the note for the goldsmith, up to 500 characters. You can also request a callback. It is the one part of the builder addressed to the people who will make the piece.

Saving and sharing

Save design keeps your piece. Share offers Save as image and Copy link. Add to cart places the design in your cart as a single item, with the chain and each charm listed beneath it and an Edit design link in case you change your mind. Designs are not saved to an account, so keep the link.

On a phone

A phone gets a guided flow of six steps: The links, The gold, The length, Charms & medallions, A note for the bench, and Review. Flatlay and On model sit as two tabs side by side, and on the Review step you can Save design, Copy link or Email it to me.

Starting looks

If a bare chain feels too open, begin from one of Ilene's eight starting looks and change anything you like. The prices here are as shown on 19 October 2026, in 14K yellow gold. Keepsake, the single hamsa on a Petite oval chain, is $1,485. The Serpent puts a Serpent Halo Medallion on a Petite circle chain for $2,853, and Panthère hangs a Panther Charm on the same chain for $2,976. True North is the fullest of the four, at $9,692. The Magic Middle in it comes with Standard and Jumbo links only; Petite stays a pure charm chain.

After you order

Each necklace is made to order at our Los Angeles bench and is ready in 2 to 4 weeks, with complimentary insured shipping within the US. Custom pieces are final sale, and a custom order may be canceled within 24 hours of being placed. What happens in those weeks is in made to order: what happens between ordering and delivery, and timing is covered in how long custom jewelry takes. For the choices behind a design, read custom charm necklace: how to design one you will wear for decades.

If a bracelet suits her better, the steps are the same, with a wrist size in place of a length. See build your own charm bracelet online, or open the bracelet builder.

Ilene Joy was founded in 1996 and relaunched in 2019 by Ilene and her daughter, Rae Scheer. Every piece is made to order in solid 14K or 18K gold at our Los Angeles bench.