Instant Collection:
Enamel Travel Charms

Many years ago, while visiting a lowkey flea market near Aix-en-Provence, I found a small bucket of enameled charms, each bearing the name of a French region. Obviously, because I tend to buy in bulk particularly when I travel (you’ll never find the items again!), I bought all of them (they were a Euro each, and because I bought him out, the kind gentleman gave me an extra-good deal). I still wear a couple of them—mixed in with other similarly-sourced charms—nearly every day, and the rest I gifted to friends. Enameled travel charms aren’t particularly difficult to find on eBay, it’s true, but there’s something about finding them in situ that made them feel hard-won.

Anyway, these enameled travel charms have lived quietly around my neck for years: And somehow, I’ve never seen anyone else wearing them. Until now: Yellow Owl Workshops, purveyors of adorable stamp kits and stationery, are doing their own variation on the theme, namely this California-centric pendant. Cute, right? Seems like a good time to start adding to my collection. (Admission: While writing up this post, I found a Montana charm on eBay and bought it.)

clockwise l-r: VINTAGE ENAMEL TRAVEL CHARM, $29.95, eBay; VINTAGE ENAMEL TRAVEL CHARM, $29.95, eBay; CALIFORNIA PENDANT, $44.00, Yellow Owl Workshop; AIR/WATER PENDANT, $44.00, Yellow Owl Workshop.