Charms And Charm Bracelets by Joanne Schwartz (2005, Hardcover)

Without a doubt, Charms and Charm Bracelets The Complete Guide is the quintessential reference book for charm collectors, and well worth the $39.95 retail price.

It is 192 pages packed full of high quality pictures of vintage charms, charm bracelets, old ads and photos of people wearing charms. I was pleased to find several of my own charms in the book. The book goes into great detail on the history of each charm, sizes and markings. Yet it's cleverly written and easy to read.

It is well organized by era and themes, and includes a great section on the history of charms.

I've been lucky enough to have chatted with the Technical Advisor of this book on ebay's Jewelry Board, and she really knows her stuff. She once commented to the effect that the book prices are "real" prices, and I believe that. They seem to be very much in-line with prices realized on ebay.

If you are serious about collecting charms, then you'll definitely want to add this book to your collection. I give Charms and Charm Bracelets The Complete Guide 5 Suns Up. :-)