Carlo Biagi jewelry hails from Firenze, Italy, but theirs are not what you would think of as a traditional Italian charm bracelet. Their collection consists of bracelets, necklaces and anklets that hold both their European-style beads (like Troll beads, Lovelinks, Chamilia beads, and Pandora) and their line of traditional-style charms (but with the added convenience of a lobster clasp, like the charms from the Thomas Sabo charm club).
The Biagi bracelets are unique in that with the help of a charm carrier (which looks like a plain, silver European-style bead with a little eye to hook the charm into, again, very similar to the ones from Thomas Sabo), you can add any of the clip-on charms to the European-style bracelets (or necklaces or anklets), so you end up with a charm bracelet that has two different type of charms.
The Carlo Biagi beads are made by Unodomani (in Italy) and come in a huge variety of styles and materials: sterling silver, gold, Murano glass, plain glass, glow in the dark glass, pave, wood, rubber, Swarovski crystals, enamel, pearls, semi-precious stones and cubic zirconia. The collection currently consists of over 1,000 beads and several different charm carriers.
The Biagi charms are made from sterling silver, cubic zirconia, enamel and resin, and the collection is steadily growing.
The base bracelets come in silver, leather, crystal, nautical cord and they also have bangle bracelets made from stainless steel. Necklaces come in silver and leather, and anklets are made from silver.
There is also a collection especially for children called Kidz, which consists of around 200 European-style smaller-sized beads (in sterling silver, rubber, glass and enamel), and base bracelets made form silver or rubber in many different colors. There are also rubber necklaces that can be decorated with the beads.
These charms and beads are definitely on the more affordable end of the price scale, with genuine Biagi beads starting around $18 and topping out around $50. The Kidz line of beads sell for $2.50 – $12.00. Unlike some of the other European-style bracelet brands, Biagi do not have their own brand name stores, but there are many authorized online retailers that carry their jewelry.
Compatibility
Some Biagi beads are threaded and some are not, and there are no stoppers on the the bracelets (you keep the beads in certain areas with the help of cover lock clips). The beads (and charm carriers) are compatible with the Chamilia bracelet, Lovelinks, and the Pandora bracelet, and they also fit on Trollbeads bracelets, however, Troll beads will not fit on Biagi bracelets.
NOTE: Trollbeads recently released a new line, Universal Uniques, that fits other brand’s snake chains, including Biagi. For photos and more, see my Trollbeads News post.
Photos: Biagi