The folks behind LitCube have created a new subscription box called Charm Me Monthly! Charm Me Monthly is a monthly jewelry subscription box designed for locket and charm lovers who want high-quality pieces without the high price tag.
Here's how it works. First, you'll decide whether you want to receive the necklace, bracelet, or necklace-and-bracelet subscription. You'll need to buy the starter pack that corresponds to that subscription level first, which range from $19.99-$37.95. The starter kit will give you all the base pieces you need to make use of your monthly charms. Then, you'll purchase a subscription to match your starter kit.
This is a review of the bracelet and necklace starter kit (a one-time purchase of $37.95) and the bracelet and necklace monthly subscription ($22.99 per month, or less with a longer commitment).
This box was sent to us at no cost for review. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
The Subscription Box: Charm Me Monthly Bracelet and Necklace Subscription
The Cost: Choose a bracelet-only subscription ($11.99 per month), a necklace-only subscription ($11.99 per month), or a bracelet-and-necklace subscription ($22.99 per month). To get the value from your subscription, you'll also need to buy the corresponding starter pack (a purchase of $19.99 for the bracelet-only or necklace-only pack, or $37.95 for the pack with the bracelet and necklace pieces).
The Products: Starter packs include basic pieces you'll need to make use of the items in your monthly subscription packs. Monthly packs will typically include themed floating charms and 1-2 other high-quality accessories. According to Charm Me Monthly, the additional accessories will be a surprise, but may include "dangling charms, locket faces, leather bands for the bracelets, necklace chains, metal bracelets, and much more."
Shipping: Free shipping to the U.S. International shipping is $11.99.
Good to Know: Charm Me Monthly says the "value of your Charm Me Monthly package will always be—at minimum—three times your cost."
Check out the Jewelry Subscription Box Directory for other jewelry boxes and make sure to add Charm Me Monthly to your subscription list or wishlist!
First, let's check out the starter pack.
The idea of this subscription is that each month, you get new charms, faces, and accessories that you can use to fancy up the basic pieces you get in the starter pack. The price of this starter pack, which includes both the bracelet and necklace starter pieces, is almost $40.00. That felt pretty steep for just a starter pack, but according to the card, I'm getting about $112.00 worth of products.
8 Starter Charms - Listed Value $31.99
The charms come taped inside a little folded card.
These are just some starter charms, so they aren't themed like the monthly charms are. That said, they do have a spring/summer slant to them in terms of color scheme.
They're super tiny. Like, smaller-than-my-fingernail tiny. Careful not to lose them!
The second pack is cute, too. The fourth charm in this pack is actually just a little gem.
The charms are cute, but I'm really surprised that they're valued at $31.99. The gem in particular, seems like something that would come in a pack of 100 or so at a craft store. Looking around online, even bigger enameled metal charms come in bulk for only around $12.00.
Stainless Steel Bracelet and Necklace Base - Listed Value $49.98
Genuine Leather Bracelet Band - Listed Value $14.99
Stainless Steel Necklace - Listed Value $14.99
The other items in the kit are of decent quality. I like that the necklace, in particular, is made of metal that shouldn't stain my skin after wearing it over and over. The leather of the bracelet is a bit stiff, but after wearing it, I bet it'll soften up. Again, I'm a little suspicious of the necklace and bracelet bases costing upwards of $50.00 (an amount I'd expect to pay for an entire piece of jewelry), but at least they're made from quality metal.
To assemble the bracelet, you loop the two leather straps through the sides of the bracelet base, and secure them with their snaps. Drop the charms into the base, then screw one of the faces on.
Obviously, you can add whatever combination of charms you'd like to the bracelet. It's a little tricky making sure the charms are facing the right direction, and I found the face sort of tricky to twist on (you have to make sure it's perfectly level so that it screws on evenly to the base). But it looks pretty cute, and the leather band feels comfortable on my wrist.
The necklace works in the same way. It's long enough that you can just loop it over your head, which I like.
The lobster claw clasp on the charm is a smart idea, too. If you have a locket/charm combo that you really like, you can just swap it out with this one, rather than having to unscrew and assemble everything onto this base.
It hangs low on me, which I actually like. Especially in summer, I like this kind of long, boho necklace.
So that's the starter kit. You might be totally happy with those two unique jewelry pieces, especially if you have tiny charms already that you'd like to add to the "lockets". If you want to shake things up each month, you can sign up for the subscription! Here's what I got in my first subscription pack (which came in the same package as my starter pack did):
This pack comes with new charms, crystals, locket faces, a dangling gem, and a new strap to use on the bracelet. So the pieces from the starter kit that I'll need are the necklace chain and base and the bracelet base. This box, again, is valued way higher than I'd expect for what I got. This pack, with supplies for the necklace and the bracelet, is $22.99 per month, but the listed value is supposedly almost $79.00.
6 Exclusive Spring Charms - Listed Value $25.99
2 Packs of Crystal Sparkles - Listed Value $7.99
2 Stainless Steel Locket Faces Embedded with Green Crystals - Listed Value $19.99
1 Genuine Leather Pastel Green Bracelet - Listed Value $14.99
1 Clear Crystal Dangle - Listed Value $9.99
This pack comes with two sets of the same charms and gems so you can make your bracelet and necklace match. According to the info card, these items altogether are worth about $34.00. They're super cute (I love the daisy), but I'm shocked that the value is so high. The gems, in particular, seem like plain plastic gems you'd get at a craft store—I'd expect to get so many more of them for $7.99!
Similarly, $9.99 for this dangle, which seems like it's just a plastic bead on a lobster claw clasp, is way more than I'd expect to pay. I do like the idea of the dangle, though. It's not something I'd immediately think to add alongside my necklace or bracelet, but it has the same effect as putting a cute keychain on a purse. It gives the look a little extra sparkle and pop.
The completed bracelet, with the swapped face, band, and gems, looks like this. I really like the green colors they picked for this set. The gems in the face have a cool tone to them so that they're more of a blue-ish, mermaid-y green. It's a cute combination with the turquoise gems, though I would've preferred a similarly richer shade of green for the leather band.
Here it is on. Again, my main concern is that the emerald gems in the face, when not directly in the light, look a bit too dark for the yellow, pale green band. It's hard to tell what the charms are from afar, but that doesn't worry me as much. If someone asks what the charms are, it's a great conversation starter!
Checking out the necklace in the mirror, it's definitely the dangle that makes the biggest impression. I hope they include more dangle charms in subsequent shipments because I like the idea of a necklace full of dancing, dangling gems.
The Verdict: The concept behind this subscription is so cute, and I did think the colors and combinations were pretty fun. The question for me is whether what you get is worth the value. In a way, I guess the $22.99-per-month (with free U.S. shipping) kit is sort of like getting two new pieces of jewelry each month. On the other hand, I'm not entirely sure the items you get are worth that whole $22.99. For instance, I've found entire floating lockets for just $6.99, but these packs come with just two faces (and value them at $19.99). The charms and gems seem like things that I could find at a craft store, though maybe these exclusive designs are harder to find. So the items seem a little overvalued (at least on the info cards), but if you love the style and aren't the type to hunt down these pieces for yourself, the surprise of this monthly kit is pretty darn fun. I could imagine this being a really fun subscription to get with someone else—these kits could make such cool friendship jewelry! You could trade charms, or coordinate what charms you wear when you go out together!
What do you think of Charm Me Monthly?
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