Exposing Overpriced Brands: Ian Charms
By: Mary Smith
Tags: Jewelry, Celebrity, Style, Fashion, Trends

Justin Bieber wearing the Rio Necklace from Ian Charms. Source: Instagram / Evan Paterakis

Many fashion trends have found themselves coming back in the past year. One of them being the mismatched beaded necklaces that are reminiscent of the 90s. This jewelry is typically fun and colorful, and it reminds us of our childhood. Ian Charms is perhaps one of the bigger brands to capitalize on this jewelry trend, but their price tag leaves us wondering who and why would someone pay for this.

Ian Charms has been spotted on the necks of celebrities such as Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, and Pete Davidson to name a few. The allure of owning something a celebrity has also worn may be enticing to some. Especially in the age of social media and influencer culture. The sad reality though is that many of these public personas have stylists who work with the brand to acquire the jewelry at no cost. So that necklace that is being sold for $180 cost nothing to the rich and famous who sport them.

Any time Ian Charms gets comments on Instagram or TikTok about the jewelry resembling the kind people could make at summer camp, the brand humorously responds by saying that summer camp is expensive. Therefore, their jewelry is expensive. For the average consumer, that answer isn’t good enough. Luxury brands are made from luxury materials. Though Ian Charms mostly steers clear of using cheap plastic beads in their designs, the beads they use are still not worth enough to justify such a high cost.

The necklaces and bracelets are made from Peruvian ceramic beads, Czech glass beads of various shapes, and freshwater pearls. The website fails to mention any materials their jewelry is made of despite charging a premium. The Peruvian ceramic beads can cost as much as $1.50 per bead and the Czech glass beads cost at most $0.60 per bead. The freshwater pearls found in Ian Charms jewelry are not the high quality perfectly round pearls you’d expect for such a price. Instead, the brand uses starter pearls that can be bought for $10 a strand on Etsy. As a matter of fact, all the beads the brand uses are available for purchase on Etsy. All in all, the materials for most Ian Charms designs ends up costing less than $20 per necklace. At an average selling price for of around $180, the markup is nearly 1000%.

An Etsy listing for Peruvian ceramic frog-shaped beads seen on Ian Charms designs. Source: Etsy

As time has gone on and more celebrities started sporting Ian Charms, the brand has steadily increased their prices. An example of this is the Danili necklace. It is currently priced at $175 on iancharms.com, but months ago used to be priced at $150. Nothing has changed in the design. The necklace is one of their simplest designs using only pearls and glass mushroom beads, which are sold on Etsy, Amazon, and various other bead retailers. Neither the glass mushroom beads nor pearls have had supply shortages in the time that the price of the necklace increased, and yet the price still increased.

Several factors might come into play when considering the price. Such as time and labor that went into creating the designs. One might think making these pieces would take some time. That is not the case. The effort creating these pieces involves simply placing the beading wire through the beads and closing the crimps off onto the wire once finished. In an Instagram Q&A, Ian Charms responded to a question asking how long each necklace takes to make. The brand’s answer? A mere 15 to 30 minutes per necklace.

The allure of Ian Charms seems to all be in the brand recognition. People assume that since celebrities and influencers wear the brand, it must justify the price. However, that is not the case when brands hand out freebies to these public figures. Ask yourself, why would you pay close to $200 for a necklace that you saw your idol wear when they likely got it for free.